4 Ups & 7 Downs From WWE Raw (30 March - Results & Review)

2. Right Message, Wrong Messenger

Who had “Cody Rhodes gets confronted by Stephanie McMahon about not being ready for his WrestleMania match against Randy Orton” on their bingo card?

Cody opened Raw in the ring, but before he could get into his promo, Big Steph came out to have a heart-to-heart with the Undisputed WWE Champion. She proceeded to talk about how “this version” of Randy Orton was more diabolical than ever before, and Rhodes couldn’t beat him unless he started thinking like Orton and getting in a similar headspace. She talked about how Randy doesn’t just listen to the voices in his head; he beckons to them and listens to another voice outside his head.

Rhodes professed to know everything there is to know about Orton, down to how many of his acts can’t be shown on WWE television anymore – including some of his attacks on Stephanie. He dropped an “I’m not my father” and told Steph she wasn’t hers either, drawing a McMahon slap. Cody would close the segment by thanking her for the hard truths.

As the virtuous babyface, Cody periodically needs to be reminded that bringing a knife to a gun fight isn’t a good strategy. But why on God’s green Earth was Stephanie McMahon chosen to be the voice of reason? We get it: Dusty Rhodes would have been the perfect messenger, but he’s no longer with us.

But for the love of God, there are a handful of people who could have delivered that message convincingly and with credibility. Could you imagine Arn Anderson putting his arm around Cody and giving him a dose of tough love?

Now go rewatch Steph playing messenger and try not to cringe.