Cody Rhodes does not need to ‘f*** off’

Even though I cover WWE’s main roster on Cageside, I am a frequent watcher of AEW television and pay-per-views. Yeah that’s crazy right? A fan of both WWE and AEW?

Now I’m not Manolo Has Pizzazz, so I don’t get to regularly put my feelings on AEW out to the Cageside Universe.

However, you may be able to tell by the headline why I’m here. If you can’t, it’s because you missed a post on Deadspin yesterday titled, “Cody Rhodes needs to f*** off more than anyone has ever f***** off in the history of f****** off”.

Subtle, right? Let me summarize, and explain where, why and how it’s wrong.

Writer Sam Fels claims that as an AEW Executive Vice-President, Rhodes inserts himself into Dynamite “wherever and however much” he wants to.

Not accurate. If Cody has been inserting himself wherever and however much he pleases, wouldn’t he hold a title right now? The only title he held was the TNT title, which he used to elevate talent in open challenge matches and have one of the best TV title matches in the Dog Collar match with the late Brodie Lee. He also specifically lost a match that stated he could not become the AEW World Champion, and has since held himself to that promise (He better break it when he turns heel, though!).

While claiming viewers have been made to watch Cody “celebrate himself”, Fels argues women’s matches should take place in those spots instead.

To which I say, this is misplaced blame. Cody has not celebrated himself in the least bit. And while I too have championed women getting more time on Dynamite, I don’t think Cody’s matches are the reason why they don’t get more time though. Kenny Omega’s matches and the Young Buck’s matches, and really any tag team matches, tend to go longer than I’d like. I have wanted a good four to five minutes shaved off those to accommodate more women’s matches.

A completely inaccurate claim is “no one can go over unless they go through Cody first.”

No major debut has ever had to go through Cody. Jon Moxley went after Omega. Brodie Lee went after Moxley. Matt Hardy went after Chris Jericho. Meanwhile, The Butcher & The Blade, MJF, Jake Hager, Santana & Ortiz, Sammy Guevara & Shawn Spears, Darby Allin, and Jade Cargill all have recorded wins against him in singles and tag team action.

The article then turns to Cody’s current feud with his friend and business partner QT Marshall.

I’ll admit at first I also didn’t get the point of QT getting Dynamite television time for a feud that had been largely brewing on Dark and elsewhere. Plus, the feud didn’t even start with Cody! Marshall laid out Lee Johnson and abandoned Dustin Rhodes before turning his focus to him.

More importantly, it appears that Marshall is using his television time to highlight his Factory teammates Aaron Solow, Nick Comoroto, and especially Anthony Ogogo. It’s also working because Ogogo is already a star thanks to that gut punch of his, which he gave to Cody and Cody sold like death. Comoroto has a unique look and Solow is… there. Overall, I have confidence in AEW that this will go in a positive direction.

Finally, I wanted to address this point last, what I found to be the most egregious and flat out grossest comment in the whole article:

Lately, Cody has been even more unchecked. Time was wasted on a gender reveal for his and Brandi Rhodes’s baby, and honestly, the only two people who give a flying fuck about that are Brandi and Cody. TNT then announced a reality show following Cody and Brandi around, in what appears Cody’s never-dying quest to be The Miz.

A lot of it is heavily leaning on a personal dislike of Cody Rhodes, but to have included the sentence about the gender reveal turns the whole article into a personal attack. The Rhodes family did not need to be dragged into this in such an unprofessional way.

As we’ve seen with the rise of Total Divas, Total Bellas, and Miz & Mrs over the years, there is a market out there for the personal lives of those we see on our favorite wrestling programs. I’m sure TNT wanted to see if they could cash in on this, and why not? If the network has interest and Cody & Brandi are willing, there’s no reason why the Rhodes family shouldn’t be on a television show - one that is not required viewing to those who do not feel the need to tune in.

With that, I’d remind the author - and anyone else - they can feel free to not make themselves look incredibly distasteful by posting their personal grievances in an inaccurate article.

All you need to do is change the channel. Or simply keep it to yourself.