"Cody Rhodes Is Promoting A Very Unhealthy Habit Parents Are Putting Kids Through" - Kevin Owens

Kevin Owens reveals how Cody Rhodes is negatively affecting fans.

by Andrew Pollard
Cody Rhodes Kevin Owens Ankle
WWE.com

Ahead of facing Cody Rhodes for the WWE Championship at Saturday Night's Main Event this weekend, Kevin Owens has detailed three things he hates about the American Nightmare - in particular, how Rhodes is negatively impacting young wrestling fans.

Speaking to MuscleManMalcolm on MuscleMemory KO was asked to name the three things he can't stand about Cody.

To that, Owens' first part of his answer discussed how Rhodes made his own tracksuit and put his own QB - as in, quarterback - badge on it, projecting himself as the self-anointed QB of WWE. Secondly, the Canadian pointed out the hypocrisy of Cody recently throwing shade on Kevin for driving a Lamborghini, when Cody Rhodes himself has an entire tour bus and is chauffeured from city to city.

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Rounding out his response, Kevin Owens lambasted the negative effect Rhodes is having on young wrestling fans when it comes to those kids having their hair bleached blonde. As Owens put it, "That's not good, these chemicals in your kid's hair. I think he's promoting a very unhealthy habit that, Americans specifically, are putting their kids through."

Much like has been the case through this rivalry so far, Kevin Owens once again makes some extremely valid points as he gets to set to challenge for the WWE Championship in just a matter of days.

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WWE Bash in Berlin Kevin Owens Cody Rhodes
WWE

Kevin Owens & Cody Rhodes, From Friends To Foes

With Kevin Owens having been embroiled in a heated rivalry with the Bloodline for several years, often fighting alongside Cody Rhodes, the Prizefighter was left frustrated when it became apparent that Rhodes had struck up an uneasy alliance with Roman Reigns.

The bubbling tensions between Owens and Rhodes came to a head at WWE Bad Blood 2024 back in October. Well, technically, those tensions came to a head after Bad Blood. Following Cody teaming with Reigns to defeat Solo Sikoa and Jacob Fatu in the PLE main event, Owens brutally attacked the second-generation star after the show had gone off the air. Rather than WWE cameras capturing all of this in glorious HD, the company opted to let this very public beatdown - outside Cody Rhodes' tour bus, no less - instead be recorded by fans, which obviously then saw this footage immediately circulated on social media.

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While Cody Rhodes is very much the poster boy of WWE, the top babyface of WWE, and the all-smiling, baby-kissing, granny-hugging hero, what makes this rivalry particularly captivating is that, like so many great heels, Kevin Owens has a lot of truth to what he says. As KO has pointed out several times, Roman Reigns and the Bloodline caused him hell for four years, and likewise made life a misery for the likes of Sami Zayn, Randy Orton, and countless others. Then there's the small matter of Cody Rhodes having battled Roman at back-to-back WrestleManias and had his own extremely heated issues with Reigns' Bloodline - with Kevin Owens always one of those to have Cody's back.

Of course, Kevin Owens vs. Cody Rhodes for the WWE Championship already took place at WWE Bash in Berlin 2024 in August, although that was more of a friendly competition between two friends, with Rhodes deeming that Owens deserved a shot at SmackDown's top prize. Now, the two lock horns again on Saturday, but this time under vastly different circumstances.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.