5 Ups & 6 Downs From WWE WrestleMania Backlash 2022
5. Ring Rust?
We excuse a lot of wayward and silly comments from the announcers, but sometimes, we have to hold them accountable for saying some truly dumb things.
Jimmy Smith takes the cake Sunday night just moments into the first match of the night. Cody Rhodes was battling Seth Rollins, and Rollins was getting the upper hand early on, prompting Smith to wonder aloud whether Rhodes needed to shake off the "ring rust" after not wrestling in WWE for six years.
Ring rust. Cody Rhodes. Seriously.
Hands down, this is one of the dumbest, intelligence-insulting comments to come in a while. We're apparently all so stupid that we believe that there's no such thing as wrestling outside the hallowed walls of WWE. Cody apparently built himself into a major wrestling superstar during his six-year absence without ever competing.
Thankfully, Corey Graves covered by completely disputing that comment and saying that Rhodes hadn't competed in WWE for six years, but certainly had wrestled elsewhere. But the damage was already done by even saying something moronic like that.
Do better, WWE. Seriously, stop insulting your fans' intelligence at every turn.