The wrestling world witnessed a seismic shift at WrestleMania 40 as The American Nightmare Cody Rhodes defeated the record-smashing champion Roman Reigns to claim the Undisputed WWE Championship, bringing an end to Reigns’ era of dominance.
Since then, Rhodes has taken on a pivotal role in shaping WWE’s new era, working closely under the charge led by WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque who helped deliver staggering records for the company in recent memory.
However, it seems that the new poster boy of Triple H’s regime is already being ridiculed, despite massive fan support for years, and heading into WrestleMania 40 to complete his long-standing narrative and finish the story for his late father, Dusty Rhodes.
As witnessed on social media, a Cody Rhodes backlash already seems to be on the horizon. Fans have been criticizing his limited promo delivery, lackluster beginning to his title reign, non-charismatic, and even calling for WWE to put the belt back on Roman Reigns. This is indicative of the days of John Cena, who emerged as a top babyface but always garnered polarizing reactions from the fans for years.
Nonetheless, Cody Rhodes’ first title defense is set to take place at WWE Backlash France, where he will face either LA Knight or AJ Styles. The challenger will be determined in a match on SmackDown this week. So we will have to wait and see if his first title defense could turn the tide in his favor and bring a certain section of fans back to his side.
What are your thoughts on Cody Rhodes’ title reign already facing backlash at the very start? Sound off in the comments!