After having an Undisputed WWE Universal Champion who appeared on television about once a month, give or take, Cody Rhodes has been working his tail off as the new top performer in the WWE Universe, with the “American Nightmare” appearing on both RAW and SmackDown – even if it’s only been to cut promos and do babyface run-ins – doing interviews all over the world, and working the house show circuit in America and abroad.
Could this oversaturation of Rhodes lead some fans to turn on him earlier than the usual babyface lifecycle? Potentially so, as some fans have already asserted that they’re getting tired of the same old babyface promos Rhodes has been cutting for years now, but with the second-generation WWE Superstar now in place as the WWE Champion, it’s safe to say the “American NightmareMania” is only going to get bigger with each passing month, as in the opinion of Kevin Nash, Rhodes is looking to become a true workhorse champion.
“They just came off that WrestleMania run, they’re over in Europe. I’m sorry, man, but the only old-school guy that’s still in that locker room, that’s of the new era, is Cody,” Kevin Nash declared on Kliq This via Fightful. “Cody would work three hundred f**king days and wouldn’t bat an eye. That’s why he’s the perfect f**king champion right now. He’s not gonna take time off. He’s gonna show up an hour before anybody else does and sign 250 f**king belts. I’m just saying, when you look at it, and they had that Iron Man thing, and it was Dom Mysterio, Seth, and it was Cody, and they were like 103 [matches], 108, 113, those were the workhorses for the year. There wasn’t a guy in our locker room that didn’t do 250.”
Unfortunately for Nash, Rhodes might actually be taking some time off of WWE in the not-too-distant future, as he’s set to join the remake of the Naked Gun with Liam Neeson and Pamela Anderson. Still, considering how Rhodes has handled himself as a champion thus far, maybe he’s figured out the schedule to still work television shows in addition to the movie; considering Rhodes has been working for almost 40 years to achieve this dream, it’s hard to imagine anything keeping him from making the most of the opportunity.
Cody Rhodes apologizes for using foul language against The Rock.
Speaking of Cody Rhodes doing all sorts of media appearances to help elevate the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship, the “American Nightmare” recently stopped by the SI Media podcast to talk about his program with The Rock at WrestleMania 40, including his course promos against “The Great One” where he claimed “The People’s Champion” had LDS. While Rhodes stands by his statement, as he felt he needed to match aggression with aggression, he does regret using course language in the promo, as it wasn’t a good example for the “Little Nightmares” around watching from home.
“It’s a situation where, I have respect for The Rock. It gets to the point, though, where you can’t have so much respect that you put your hands down. I had been really diplomatic, it wasn’t so much so that it wasn’t working with the fans, as much as, I don’t think it was resonating with [Rock]. Specifically, the one interview I did, I was wearing a black suit, and that’s where the LDS comment was. I called him a carny. I just wanted to speak his language. He came from that era of cutthroat crash TV. He’s been in every era, but I wanted to speak his language and let him know someone, if not a few people, on this current roster can speak your language if you’d like,” Cody Rhodes explained via Fightful.
“I, in a weird way… fans in the arena loved it. There was a huge joy to this interview, however, for me, I felt a little guilty because I have a lot of young young fans and I would never want them to ask their mom about LDS. I remember telling myself, ‘There are like 20,000 YouTube videos of me on BTE cursing and yelling,’ but my run with WWE has been for the family audience and the Little Nightmares, the little kiddos. I just wouldn’t want to lead them astray in any way. Hopefully, that interview didn’t turn them off to me as their guy. Everyone after was so pumped about it, my wife was digging it, I remember that I felt a little guilty.
“When you’re talking to someone of such power and aura, you have to commit and bring it. Anytime I said something in the build to WrestleMania, that I felt I didn’t believe, you could tell right away. You could look on my face and go, ‘Ah, he didn’t.’ I had to remind myself of these individuals, particularly the Bloodline and Mr. Heyman; they will not accept if I’m half-cocked. That’s not going to work. I was able to get all the way there.”
Should Rhodes be apologizing for using course language when darn near everyone else in the WWE Universe is throwing around swear words like it’s their job? No, probably not, but hey, at this point, it more or less fits what WWE is doing right now, and makes it so that when Rhodes does have to go to that dark place at some point in the future, it will feel even more impactful.
