Diamond Dallas Page has watched Cody Rhodes become one of WWE’s biggest stars, but the wrestling legend believes there’s another side of The American Nightmare that audiences haven’t seen yet. DDP wants Rhodes to turn heel, and he thinks the timing of such a move could make all the difference.
During an appearance on TMZ’s Inside the Ring, DDP was asked about Cody Rhodes’ character and how WWE has increasingly blurred the lines between babyfaces and heels. Having known Rhodes for years, DDP explained that Cody built his reputation as a traditional good guy, something he witnessed firsthand during the early days of AEW.
DDP recalled attending the original All In event and watching Rhodes spend an extraordinary amount of time interacting with the audience after the show. He explained that Cody continued doing that throughout his career, although maintaining that level of accessibility wasn’t always sustainable.
“The energy, I mean, it was like ECW meets the NWO at craziness of wrestling fans. And afterwards, he brought everybody out. He they must have talked for an hour, [laughter] you know, signed everything. And Cody kept doing that the whole time.”
That brought DDP to Hulk Hogan, who experienced a career resurgence after abandoning his longtime heroic character and becoming the leader of the nWo. Page pointed out that even Hogan had reached a stage where some viewers were getting tired of his act before the heel turn completely changed everything.
“I mean fans turned on Hogan you know there weren’t not not the masses but you know a lot of people you know you complain about you know Hogan being you know long in the tooth and all of a sudden you make him nWo black and white and he’s the leader of the nWo and he’s hotter than ever”
DDP believes Rhodes could benefit from a similar transformation. He admitted that he would have preferred to see Cody turn heel while he was at the height of his popularity, especially because Rhodes already possesses the microphone skills to make the character work.
“You know, I’d love to see him I’d love to see him turn heel. I’ I would have liked to see him turn like at the peak, you know, because [laughter] to take that next run, you know, part of it, but he’s and he’s such a great talker.”
DDP then shifted toward WWE’s approach to presenting its wrestlers, particularly through the Netflix series WWE Unreal. He acknowledged that some people within the wrestling business aren’t happy about exposing the personalities behind the characters, but he sees value in the concept.
“I would love to hear him as a heel, you know, but you know, they’re kind of, you know, with with Unreal, you know, that whole and a lot of people don’t like that who are part of the business. I kind of like it because it takes um characters that you might not see like who are these people behind the scenes and it’s kind of like you know it’s when when the NFL will do a story on somebody you know or baseball or any major sports team you know they’ll do you know like up close and personal well you get to see that and I think it’s helped some careers and I think it makes it harder on others on on others.”
The hosts also suggested that Rhodes already looks the part of a villain because of his expensive suits and polished presentation. However, they questioned whether WWE would actually risk changing the character when Rhodes remains so popular with younger viewers. DDP didn’t offer a firm prediction about when a heel turn might happen. Instead, his response trailed off as he considered the possibility.
“I don’t think it’ll happen until he’s not, [laughter] you know, like they’re Yeah.”
For now, Cody Rhodes remains one of WWE’s most recognizable heroes, but DDP clearly believes the company could unlock another chapter of his career by letting him embrace a darker personality. Whether WWE is willing to take that gamble while Rhodes remains a major attraction is another question entirely.
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.
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