Why WWE Will Save Cody Rhodes From Burial

3. Cody Rhodes, Workhorse

WWE WrestleMania 39 Cody Rhodes
WWE.com

While the attempt to get Lex Luger over as a top babyface was based around presentation and personality, Cody Rhodes has far more tools to get himself over with a fanbase than the Total Package ever had.

This article isn't designed to be a hit-piece on Luger, and the New Yorker very much is a legend of the business who had huge success and put on many great matches, but Lex himself would have to admit that he was nowhere near the in-ring worker that Cody is.

The American Nightmare has of course used presentation and personality to get himself over, yet Rhodes has also long endeared himself to wrestling fans for his ability between the ropes. By his sheer workrate and technical prowess, Cody can have a crowd in the palm of his hand and get you emotionally invested regardless of who he's standing opposite of in the ring.

For Luger, he simply didn't have that ability. If there was a great storyline at play or he was facing an elite worker such as a Ric Flair, a Ricky Steamboat or a Barry Windham, sure, Lex would clearly have an audience invested in what they were seeing. The difference is, the sheer workhorse nature of Cody Rhodes means fans are invested in what he does regardless of story or the skill level of his opponents.

Of course, it also helps that Cody is one hell of a promo, which is yet another string to his bow.

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 dayjob, 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.