4 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE SmackDown (19 Dec - Results & Review)
1. OK, Cody’s Heel Hints Are Interesting!
Well, well, well. How the turn tables.
That pre-taped home invasion bit fell a little short in this guy's opinion, but a Cody Rhodes in-ring promo more than made up for it by delivering some tasty heel teasing. During it, Rhodes dismissed Nick Aldis saying he isn’t above the law and works for WWE’s best interests. Cody started ringing off his achievements since returning to the company in 2022, then said he works “for them” (the fans) and told Nick: “You work for me”.
This was something a little different from Rhodes. He even went so far as to call himself “QB1”, so everything felt rather heelish and arrogant. If Cody can keep this sort of thing going, then accelerate once he drops the WWE Title to McIntyre (that has to happen, right?) heading into WrestleMania 42, then he could be the top heel in the biz coming out of that April weekender.
Imagine it. People have been invested in Cody's "finish the story" mantra for years now, and he's done an amazing job of sustaining popularity even when it seemed like he was being shoved down everyone's throats. That takes true skill, but Rhodes has to turn heel at some stage. He's clearly gonna be sensational as a villain, and Friday's promo proved it.
His aloof nature, his refusal to take Nick's friendly advice on board, the fact he ditched his morals to even show up at McIntyre's door - everything is colliding to make 'Cody: The Heel Years' sound like something that'll rock 2026 to its very foundations. Bring it on.
What did you think of this week's WWE SmackDown? For more like this, check out 10 Things You Learn Binge Watching Every WWE Raw From 2006 and 9 Things You Learn Binge Watching Every WWE SmackDown From 2007!