Why Triple H's Biggest WWE Blunder Is Hidden In Plain Sight

WWE Raw The Rock Cody Rhodes
WWE

There's currently a trend amongst certain bad-faith social media grifters to write off Cody's run as a failure before it's really even started. Or "write off" in the sense that they refuse to think he can ever be a Roman Reigns-adjacent talismanic figure, and "before it's truly got started" as in after one (!) Premium Live Event title defence against AJ Styles that was rated five stars by the Wrestling Observer's Dave Meltzer. To even dedicate more than the end of this sentence to the take is more than they deserve, but what - beyond a bizarre parasocial obsession with 'The Tribal Chief' - salient point might actually be buried under the insanity? Could the maniacs and their Superstar avatars have identified the biggest difference between 2023 and 2024 WWE at present?

No, but only because they couldn't identify their backsides with both hands. But it's apparent, it's annoying, and it's what the company are currently stuck with. Cody Rhodes is on the wrong show, and it looks like he's stuck there for the foreseeable future. Not just the wrong show for him, his character and his title, but the wrong show for how WWE produces television in 2024 and for the current shape and layout of the rosters following an enormously underwhelming draft.

As a show still airing on Fox until switching over to USA Network later this year, there may still be a business rationale to having the organisation's top star and Champion on Friday Nights. Creatively, not so much. 'The American Nightmare's rocky road to Finishing His Story survived on the strength of a frankly incredible run on Raw. With the belt now slung over his shoulder, he could do with that loaded roster full of stars to brush back up against rather than what feels like a fairly shallow pool on SmackDown.

It's all well and good waiting for the Road To WrestleMania to pull the switch, but by then it'll be too late. The Rock will be back on the scene, a fairly transparent WrestleMania main event will likely reveal itself, and neither man will have a night of the week so much as making sure they're around for whenever Dwayne can make the town. Cody's current placement on Fridays isn't going to tank the business, but in much the same way Rock named SmackDown "his show", Rhodes needs to return to Raw to become an everlasting 'Great One' himself.

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back almost 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 60,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett