7 Ups & 5 Downs From WWE Raw (May 16)

2. Cody Lets It All Hang Out

Cody Rhodes is definitely getting the star treatment, but he isn’t afraid to remind fans where he came from in his previous WWE run.

Rhodes continued to add an element of realism to his promos Monday night, talking about costing Seth Rollins the winner’s bonus at WrestleMania, an old trope used to partly explain why wins and losses matter – if you win, you’re paid more.

But Rhodes also compared his previous run with Rollins’ rise in WWE, noting how Seth came in as part of The Shield, captured gold and then broke the glass ceiling to become world champion. Meanwhile, Cody kept losing a lot, even painting his face and smiling while he was “dead inside” as Stardust. However, he endured, reinvented himself and rebuilt himself.

Cody talked about vindication and second chances, then said that Rollins would have to kill him to keep him from succeeding with his second chance, setting up his challenge for Hell in a Cell, which Rollins would quickly accept.

This could be another barn-burner of a match. Let’s hope they continue to build off the previous two and elevate the game, because this feud has been solid so far, and it would really be a kick in the teeth to trail off now.