5 Reasons Cody Rhodes Will Succeed In WWE (And 5 Reasons He Won't)
Predicting the best and the worst for the American Nightmare.
Following one of the worst kept secrets in wrestling, Cody Rhodes is back in the WWE fold.
It’s something we all saw coming (even if the contract talk seemed to drag on interminably), but the moment he emerged at WrestleMania Saturday was no less spine-tingling for its inevitability.
The prodigal son returned, put on one of the finest matches at WrestleMania against Seth Rollins, and was the talking point of the post-’Mania Raw, cutting one of his signature lengthy promos to an appreciative crowd.
Rhodes feels a mile from the man who left WWE; he has returned the globetrotting superstar he became in the indies and AEW, and the future should surely be rosy for the grandson of a plumber.
But… will it be? In its very recent past, the company has bungled stars at least as promising as Cody, and while he should be a dead cert to become the top WWE star he always could have been, it doesn’t take a great deal of imagination to see how this could all go horribly wrong. There are reasons to be fearful as well as cheerful.
10. Will - In-Ring Talent
First and (arguably) foremostly: there’s no debating that WWE has signed a top tier wrestling talent. Even as the AEW fandom lost their patience with Cody, he was doing great work, capping things off with a five star ladder match against Sammy Guevara, and there’s no reason he shouldn’t be doing the same under Vince.
For sheer wrestling quality, his showdown with Seth Rollins was one of the matches of the weekend, with psychology, showmanship, and technical skill on display in spades. While there’s an argument to be made that WWE doesn’t value workrate like his previous employer did, if Rhodes is allowed to display his talents, we’re in for a good time.
There’s plenty of talent with whom Cody can lock horns and put on great matches, and in his AEW tenure he showed his ability to work in all kinds of formats and with wrestlers of all stripes and experience levels.
If Rhodes is able to replicate that in WWE - and it is, admittedly, a big if - he should be able to convince any of the doubters or WWE loyalists who don’t recognise his level.