Bully Ray Discusses Cody Rhodes' WWE Title Reign, What He Needs Moving Forward

Cody Rhodes is slated to face his first major challenger as Undisputed WWE Champion when he faces AJ Styles at Backlash. Fans can probably bet on it being a solid match, but the odds of Rhodes losing the championship so early after winning it appear slim. Rhodes's lengthy quest to end Roman Reigns' even lengthier reign might indicate that Rhodes is in line for a decent run as champion himself, but on "Busted Open Radio," Bully Ray said he doesn't think a prolonged title reign is necessary for Cody's character.

"I don't believe Cody needs to have some credible, long run, a la Roman or anybody else," Bully said. "The Rock is the Lex Luthor to Cody's Superman. That's the way I'm looking at it right now. I have no problem with Rock coming in and defeating Cody, if Rock's gonna stick around, and at least do some business with the WWE." Bully said the challenge he sees with WWE booking Cody is that beyond Reigns or Rock, fans won't buy anybody else as a serious contender to Cody's championship. He likened the situation to the "Rocky" franchise, asserting that nobody cared about the fights Rocky had after Apollo Creed until Mr. T showed up.

"Cody Rhodes needs his Mr. T to show up," Bully said. "Yes, Cody's got a lot of goodwill ... but they're not going to be getting the same level of story or intensity that they got with Roman and The Rock. So it's going to be very easy for Cody to fall into these ten fights like Rocky Balboa had — yeah, you're the number one contender, big deal. Nobody poses a credible threat. I want to know who's Cody's legitimate, credible threat. As a matter of fact, I would've liked to have seen him in the ring with that legitimate, credible threat already. I don't like this little bit of a lull. I think Cody is cooling a bit."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Busted Open Radio" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.