Dark Cody: WWE can execute nuance with Cody Rhodes that AEW couldn’t

WWE

As intensity builds in the feud between Cody Rhodes and several others on the roster, WWE has a chance to execute a storyline that failed in AEW.

With perpetual buzz that Cody Rhodes could turn heel, could the time finally have arrived for Triple H to pull the trigger on the major WWE change?

While the references have been subtle, there are several hints that it could be that a darker version of Cody Rhodes is possible in WWE.

“He’s been compromised”

In a fascinating backstage segment on tonight’s September 25 edition of SmackDown, Randy Orton had a sit down interview with Michael Cole — that came to be in a most peculiar way.

With Randy Orton demanding the same backstage interview opportunity that he afforded Rhodes from Cole, their exchange was interesting.

While Orton described Cody Rhodes as “compromised”, he not only referred to the ways in which Cody had changed himself over time to become more popular, he also alluded to believing that Rhodes still didn’t have the depth of violence in him that he portrayed in his harsh comments from the prior week.

Of course referencing the hot-mic moment where Rhodes confided in Cole that he would kick Orton’s head off  his shoulders— Orton seemed to call Cody’s bluff.

Promising violence — not promising it will stop

Later in an in-ring segment, Rhodes made it clear that not only was he quite serious when he said he was willing to kick Orton head’s off — it wouldn’t only be Orton that he was coming after.

Noting that he had been put in one impossible situation after another since returning to WWE, he was “the King of unwinnable positions,” but with a threatening rather than more typical inspirational Rhodes tone.

Rhodes would tell the camera directly in a message to Orton that he promised that he would seize the opportunity to kick Orton’s head off his shoulders but that he couldn’t promise that Randy Orton would be the only one.

From his long pause to stare at the adoring crowd before leaving the ring, almost as if he was saying goodbye to their smiles and cheers to his intense stare down with CM Punk on the entrance ramp, there is clearly something brewing with Rhodes.

WWE can execute ‘Death of Superman’ story better than AEW did

Leaning into Orton’s statements of Cody being ‘compromised’, Rhodes could resurrect a storyline he once attempted in AEW, returning from absence with notably dyed dark hair in homage to the Death of Superman.

Of course a reference that Rhodes would note later was not well understood, there is still an opportunity for Rhodes to seemingly showcase a darker side of his character, while also still maintaining the superhero within.

Able to bring back his darker hair for a limited run, the homage could be made more clear in WWE with Rhodes leaning into the reference of being taken for granted and thereby shockingly “killed off”, as was the case for Superman in 1992.

Replaced by four imposters before the real Superman was eventually resurrected, there could be some particularly compelling character work if Rhodes were to exercise his character’s demons through a crucible of feuds that showed off not only an edge but also, a vulnerability.

With Rhodes gaining Hollywood acclaim, if our collective time with Cody is short — WWE fans could handle the nuance of a darker version of Cody Rhodes to emerge organically with certainly the elevated violence with longtime friend Randy Orton able to serve as a catalyst for the change.

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• Cody Rhodes
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