Cody Rhodes says people backstage in WWE used to get mad at him because he refused to put paper bags over the heads of fans they thought were ugly.
Rhodes was looking back at his “disfigured” character from his feud with Rey Mysterio, a storyline that started after Mysterio legitimately broke his nose. Cody turned the injury into an entire character change and eventually started handing out paper bags to fans as part of the act. There was just one part of the gimmick he wasn’t willing to play along with.
While speaking to James Sweetnam, Cody revealed that people backstage wanted him to deliberately pick out unattractive fans for the bags—and they weren’t happy when he refused.
“They always would get mad at me backstage cuz I wouldn’t put them on the the the ugly people.”
Cody wasn’t interested in walking around the crowd, deciding somebody was ugly and then forcing a bag over their head just to get heat. His reasoning was pretty simple.
“But, that that’s because I I I’m not going to seek someone out and shove a bag on their head. That seems like assault.”
Rhodes said there was no shortage of fans who actually wanted to be part of the bit anyway. Instead of singling someone out based on their looks, he would go with people who were already playing along with the character.
“Versus the fans in the crowd, they’re like, ‘I want the bag.’ It was always a bit.”
The paper bag gimmick was designed to make Cody one of the biggest jerks on television, but even he had a line he wasn’t willing to cross. WWE wanted the visual, Cody wanted fans who were actually in on the joke—and he wasn’t about to hunt through the crowd looking for somebody to embarrass.
What do you make of Cody Rhodes refusing to target fans WWE considered “ugly” during the paper bag gimmick? Let us know in the comments.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
