10 Worst Excuses For Terrible Wrestling Moments

3. Cody Rhodes Needed Better Facials

The Rock Cody Rhodes
WWE.com

What Happened: Royal Rumble winner Cody Rhodes sensationally announced that he wouldn't challenge Roman Reigns to a rematch at WrestleMania 40 on the 2 February 2024 edition of SmackDown. No, valiant babyface hero Cody would willingly step aside for The Rock and let him challenge for the WWE Title instead.

The Excuse: Ex-WWE writer Brian Gewirtz went on record to semi-blame Cody for the moment falling flat. He desperately asserted that Rhodes being legit p*ssed off and thus failing to properly sell "uplifting" excitement with his facial expressions contributed to fan annoyance.

That's dumb.

People were flabbergasted and annoyed because Cody stepping aside for someone else made no sense. Why would the Royal Rumble winner be chuffed to let someone else scoop his glory, title match and 'Mania payoff? Someone ask Gewirtz to explain that one. It'd be an impossible script to write.

Excusing WWE's terrible decision and pointing the finger of blame at Rhodes was stupid. Triple H quickly saw the error of his ways and corrected the mistake around a week later, so there's no way Cody smiling some more would've eased fan unrest on SmackDown.

Contributor

Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.