Bully Ray Explains What He Thinks Cody Rhodes Should Have Said During WWE Raw Promo
WWE legend Bully Ray has assessed Cody Rhodes' promo on this past week's "WWE Raw," where the men's Royal Rumble winner took potshots at The Rock.
The Hall of Famer, during his appearance on "Busted Open," pointed out issues in the promo, and has detailed what he would've wanted "The American Nightmare" to say in the promo. He believes that Rhodes should've addressed The Rock's comments about his mother first and then gone on to touch on other topics.
"1000% because that's the meat of the promo," Ray said, highlighting how Rhodes should've first attacked The Rock for bringing his mother into the picture. "That's what's fueling you right now. The first words out of my mouth would've been, 'Dwayne, my mother? You want to talk about my mother? Here's what I got for you: First things first, you don't talk about my family; second thing, you don't talk about my mother. You have now put yourself in my crosshairs more than you've ever been before. This is no longer about Cody Rhodes and The Rock. This is now about Cody Runnels and Dwayne Johnson [their real-life names] because you brought my mother into this.'"
Ray also remarked that Rhodes' delivery in his promo resembled that of a heel.
Rhodes should've delivered the most un-pro wrestling promo: Ray
Bully Ray, while evaluating Cody Rhodes' aggressive promo, offered suggestions that could've made the promo better, one of which was for Rhodes to blur the lines between kayfabe and reality.
"This should be the most un-pro wrestling promo. This should've been Adam Pearce coming to the ring in the middle of Cody's promo going, 'Cody, you can't say these things. You're gonna kept the plug pulled on us.' [Cody should've responded] 'Adam, get out of my ring. You know what, eff you too Adam.' I would've painted this picture so differently to the point where wrestling fans would've had to take a step backwards because they wouldn't know if Cody was going into business for himself or not."
The tag team legend thinks that if Rhodes had said what he suggested, the promo would've been in a gray area between kayfabe and reality, like CM Punk's iconic pipe bomb promo. Ray suggested that while some fans might have enjoyed the promo, he believes it's probably a 50-50 split between those who liked it and those who didn't
He was also confused about Rhodes stating that it was fair game for The Rock to bring up Cody's mother's name in his promo because Cody brought her into the storyline first. Ray believes that Rhodes should have begun his promo by addressing The Rock's claim that he would give Cody's mother a weight belt covered in her son's blood.
Ray feels Rhodes should've targeted Rock's in-ring ability
Another subject that Bully Ray thinks Cody Rhodes could've used to target The Rock is his rusty in-ring ability.
"When he mentioned, 'You haven't been in the ring in 10 years,' that's where he should have brought the insider term of 'blowing The Rock up.' [Cody should've said] 'I'm going to drag you into deep water, I'm going to have you breathing heavy, I'm going to beat you up, I'm going to blow you up, and I'm going to expose you for the fraud that you are. You couldn't last 15 seconds with Jinder Mahal. How are you going to go 15 minutes with me? I've been wrestling every single day. Hell, Rock, I wrestled with a torn pec.'"
Ray argued that Rhodes missed the opportunity to expose The Rock's lack of wrestling in recent years. The Hall of Famer concluded that the promo delivered by Rhodes was good, but it was on the wrong night. He liked the fact that Rhodes didn't go after The Rock's mother in his promo, which he thinks is what babyfaces should do, but feels that he should've warned The Rock what would happen to him for speaking ill of his mother.
Ray gave the promo a middling five out of 10, arguing that it could've been better. "The American Nightmare" will feature on this week's "WWE SmackDown," where he will come face-to-face with Roman Reigns, while The Rock will appear on the WrestleMania go-home show of "Raw."