Cody Rhodes isn’t promising a heel turn, but Eric Bischoff is basically screaming for WWE to pull the trigger.
Cody has already said he’s not flipping bad just because the internet wants it. Sure, he’s leaving the door open if the story makes sense, but online pressure alone won’t be the thing that changes “The American Nightmare.”
Bischoff, however, thinks WWE needs to stop waiting. Speaking on his 83 Weeks podcast, Bischoff said Cody’s babyface act still has life left in it, but that’s exactly why WWE should make the move now instead of riding it until fans are completely over it.
“I think Cody has to turn heel. I mean, I feel that strongly about it because he’s done—he’s played this character out and you’ve squeezed every… No, you haven’t. You’ve still got some juice left in that lemon. Let it go while there’s still juice in it because you can come back to it at some point. So, don’t kill it. But he needs that. WWE needs that.”
Bischoff doesn’t want Cody turning into some monster heel either. He wants the nasty version. The cheap-shot version. The guy who smiles in your face, steals the win, and acts like he did nothing wrong.
“WWE needs a vicious heel, like a lie, cheat, you know, cheating kind of heel, not a badass heel. Badass heels aren’t really heels. Those big larger-than-life just monsters that look like they could just rip the head off anybody that steps in the ring with them. Yeah, those are really cool, but they’re not heels. He needs somebody slippery, somebody greasy, somebody that’s credible physically, you know, he can, but prefer the greasy way out.”
The WWE Hall of Famer said that kind of character work is simple wrestling storytelling, but with someone like Cody, it could hit hard.
“That’s simple stuff. It’s basic. It’s crayons and stick figure character development and storytelling, but it always works. Particularly when you’ve got a really, really, really great performer like Cody Rhodes. If he were to embrace it, if he were to embrace it, I would predict he would be one of the best heels of our generation.”
And yes, Bischoff knows Cody sells a ton of merch. He just doesn’t think that should scare WWE into keeping things frozen. According to him, WWE should be watching the trend, not just the ranking. Cody can still be a top seller, but if the gap is shrinking, Bischoff believes that’s when you jump before the whole thing cools off.
“We know he’s a top seller, but what has the trend been? Even though it’s a top seller, it could be number one, but is it number one by a mile like it was last year at this time, or is it number one by 100 yards? What’s the trend? Because I don’t think you want to ride it into the dirt.”
Bischoff then brought up Dusty Rhodes’ old “lightning bolt” lesson, saying the smart move is to jump to the next hot thing before the current one crashes.
“Dusty Rhodes used to talk about it in terms of the lightning bolt, baby. You ride that lightning bolt right before it hits the ground, you jump on another lightning bolt. You don’t ride the lightning bolt into the ground. That’s a Dusty Rhodes-ism.”
For now, Cody isn’t shutting the door on anything, but he also isn’t letting social media book his career. Bischoff clearly believes WWE has a monster opportunity sitting right there, and in his eyes, waiting too long could be the real mistake.
Do you think Cody Rhodes should finally turn heel, or is WWE right to keep him as its top babyface? Drop your thoughts in the comments below.
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