Court Bauer Comments On How WWE Is Treating Cody Rhodes, Says Dusty Would Be Proud

In the two-plus weeks since WrestleMania 39, much of the discourse around the weekend of shows has centered on the decision to have Cody Rhodes lose his shot at WWE Undisputed Universal Champion Roman Reigns in the main event of night two. With Rhodes and Sami Zayn being the two hottest acts in WWE to the point of being tangible draws and Zayn not winning his hometown shot at Reigns weeks earlier, it seemed inevitable that Rhodes was winning until he didn't. On Tuesday, MLW promoter and booker Court Bauer weighed in on the Cody discourse in an appearance on Busted Open Radio, mixing in some insight from when he worked with Cody's father, Dusty Rhodes, on the WWE creative team.

"You have to have conviction in the payoff, whatever the payoff is for them," Bauer explained. "And so if they think there is a grander payoff, then maybe [I would have booked it the same way]. I think when you deny the audience that thing they want, you're suppressing it, right? It's like the pressure's building up for it. The delicate dance in booking is feeling it and knowing you gotta pop it off. Because if you try to elongate it and stretch it out too long? It does dissipate, you lose the pressure and the cathartic release of that moment." Bauer also noted that in 2006, he recalls that Dusty Rhodes told him that he had a plan for Cody that involved him going to acting school with the idea that he could become a pro wrestler later, even if that wasn't Cody's plan at the time, as he was just looking to be an actor.

"Dusty, I think, would be incredibly, incredibly proud of the instincts as a businessman that Cody's shown," he added.