In his final in-ring promo before leaving All Elite Wrestling, an impassioned Cody Rhodes addressed a rabid crowd in the nation’s capital of Washington, D.C. Standing in the center of the squared circle in his suit and tie, Cody shouted to be heard over the jeers and heckles, like a presidential candidate trying to sway a gathering of his biggest detractors. Throughout this 7- minute-long speech, Cody touched on his recent contract negotiations, the creation and evolution of AEW, and his complex relationship with the fans.
“You wanna ask why I won’t turn heel?” he screamed into the mic as his voice cracked under the emotional weight of the moment. “It’s because you cheered me when I needed it most. When it says, ‘There is more than one royal family in wrestling,’ I am talking about me and ALL OF US!”
Cody was referencing the continued calls from a large section of the AEW fanbase for him to “turn heel.” In wrestling terms, turning heel is when a good guy (the babyface) becomes a bad guy. It’s a role Cody has fulfilled to great success before, both in his previous (and potentially future) home of the WWE and in Ring of Honor and New Japan Pro-Wrestling. But since signing with Tony Khan’s AEW in January 2019 as a wrestler and executive vice president (alongside Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks), Cody has always played the babyface.
This was clearly the correct decision in the beginning as the upstart wrestling promotion sought to establish itself on a national scale. As Cody stated in his Washington promo, he carried “every ounce of empty monopoly sentiment on his shoulders” and “held every grain of the revolution in his hands,” and the fans cheered him every step of the way. He was the blood-pouring, throne- smashing, flag-waving hero that helped launch the first serious alternative to WWE in decades.
Fans wanted to cheer him ever since his NWA World Title match against Nick Aldis at All In — the 2018 event that inspired the formation of AEW. That sentiment carried through to his classic encounter with his brother Dustin Rhodes at AEW’s first pay-per-view Double or Nothing and helped set the tone of Dynamite in its first few months on TNT through his feuds with Chris Jericho and MJF. While the company was rebuilding Hangman Adam Page and laying the early foundations for its future stars like Darby Allin, Jungle Boy, and Sammy Guevara, Cody was the one holding down the fort.
However, somewhere along the way, Cody went from the most beloved babyface in AEW to one of its most polarizing figures. As funny as it is to pretend it started when he got that ugly neck tattoo, it’s impossible to pinpoint the exact moment of the shift. You might look to the coronavirus pandemic in early 2020 and how the loss of live crowds killed some of Cody’s luster. But that would be dismissing his incredible run as the first TNT Champion, where his open challenges were a weekly highlight, helping showcase up-and-comers like Ricky Starks and undervalued industry veterans like Eddie Kingston.
It wasn’t until Cody’s second run as TNT Champion and the return of live crowds that things started to feel different. Having taken time off to film the TBS game show The Go Big Show, Cody would make his return to Dynamite, adorned in a black suit, his trademark bleached blond hair replaced with a darker cut, looking like a lost member of My Chemical Romance. He quickly regained the TNT Title from the late Mr. Brodie Lee and just as quickly went back blond — perhaps the first sign of a character in the midst of an identity crisis.
Cody’s second reign as TNT Champion lacked the appeal of the open challenge era, with his matches often feeling more like time-stalling devices rather than compelling feuds with their own intent and purpose. And he would ultimately drop the title to Darby at the Full Gear ppv in November 2020. Everything that came next felt like a wild rollercoaster ride through Codyland, where you were never sure when the ride would stop or restart or leave you hanging upside down on a loop-the-loop.
Let’s briefly summarize Cody’s adventures in AEW since late 2020. He interacted with a debuting Sting but never followed up on what could have been a blockbuster dream match. There was a similarly intriguing feud set-up with Penta El Zero M that abruptly ended after a couple of weeks. He beefed with Shaquille O’Neal in a slew of awkward segments, despite the surprisingly entertaining match at the end of it. And how can we forget the seemingly never-ending saga with QT Marshall and the Nightmare Factory trainees that led to the uncomfortably jingoistic rivalry with British Olympian Anthony Ogogo? All the while, he was dipping in and out to shoot his various reality shows.
During this period, fans began referring to Cody’s matches and segments as the “Codyverse,” a mocking term used to describe how Cody’s parts of the show felt like they were happening in a bubble. He seemed disconnected from the rest of AEW, both in the tone of his segments and the way he never interacted on-screen with the company’s other top stars. While this was partly due to taking himself out of contention to challenge for the AEW World Title, it still felt odd not to see any interaction between Cody and The Elite or Hangman or even Jon Moxley, what many would describe as potential money feuds and matches.
With that storyline disconnect came fan disconnect. The audiences — at least those in the arenas following AEW’s return to touring in July 2021 — no longer had the same level of investment in Cody’s character as they did when AEW first started. It was fatigue brought on by underwhelming storylines, confusing character motivations, and semi-frequent disappearing acts. This was only exacerbated by the signing of big-name talents like CM Punk, Bryan Danielson, and Adam Cole,
not to mention the growth of popular homegrown stars like Darby, Sammy, and Jungle Boy. The fans now had new heroes to cheer for and didn’t need Cody to fulfill that role like he did in the company’s early days.
And yet, Cody couldn’t let the fans go. Even as more and more people started to boo him, he tried to reel them back in. But the harder he tried, the louder the boos became. The crowds didn’t want All American, “undesirable to undeniable” babyface Cody anymore; they wanted despicable, shit- talking heel Cody. That’s why they cheered when Malakai Black arrived and kicked his head off. That’s why they applauded in agreement when Arn Anderson called him a coward. It was time for a change, just like when Kenny and the Bucks turned heel or when the Dark Order went the other way and became faces. AEW had a good track record of gauging crowd reaction and giving fans what they wanted, even if it meant adjusting, and so, that’s what was expected of Cody.
But Cody never gave the fans the satisfaction. Sure, he teased heel tendencies on several occasions and played up to it in front of particularly raucous crowds. His Homelander-like attire and elaborate, pyro-filled entrances, accompanied by an entourage that would make Madonna blush, fit the image of an obnoxious prick that believed he was the good guy when really he was the biggest villain of all. And many people, including myself, thought this was intentional. It seemed like Cody was leaning into this meta character arc and that eventually, he would morph into full heel mode and make the turn official.
As suggested in the title of this piece, I believe a Cody Rhodes heel run in AEW could have been one of the best of all time. And that’s because there was real justification behind it. In interviews, Cody has said that turning heel and going back on his word to the fans would have been too predictable. But predictable doesn’t necessarily have to mean bad. Sometimes, predictable is also logical, and there was logic and reasoning behind a Cody turn. The once adored hero the fans rejected in favor of the new shiny toys would create the kind of justifiable resentment to form the basis of a heel turn.
A pissed-off Cody turning his back on the fans because they turned on him first is so perfect that it’s almost shocking it never happened. His character could remain in the right while still acting like a dick and taking his animosity out on the AEW crowd favorites. That would mean proper heel versus babyface feuds with Hangman Page and Sting and Moxley and CM Punk. It would mean going back on his word and winning the AEW World Title, preferably with his wife Brandi (also better as a heel) by his side. The mileage of the Cody heel character and the potential dream matches was almost endless.
But we never got that, and perhaps never will, all because Cody refused to change his on-screen character. In interview after interview, Cody has firmly stood his ground when it comes to not turning heel. Many thought this was part of the meta-story arc and would only add to the impact of the turn when it eventually happened. However, it’s become clear now that Cody was being completely sincere. He said he would retire before turning heel, emphasizing that his role as a new father and the head of AEW’s community outreach program meant more to him than “doing heel stuff on TV.”
“I am not turning heel, and I’m not going back on my word to challenge for the title. That stuff was real,” he told Pop Culture in late 2021, echoing comments he’d made to a fan on Twitter earlier in the year when he said, “After a decade of honing my skills at this, and the last 3 – 4 years of such a strong and growing connection with my fans… I’d be a fool to throw it away and swim upstream.”
Yet, the last year of Cody’s career has felt like he was swimming against the current of what many fans wanted to see. Sure, with new parental responsibilities and increasing his charitable work, you can understand him wanting to be a role model on TV and continuing the pure babyface legacy of his father, Dusty Rhodes. And wrestling is this weird artform where performers often straddle the line between reality and fiction, putting a lot of their true selves into their characters, which is certainly the case for Cody. But there is such a thing as separating the art from the person, and people (fans and performers both) should be able to make that distinction.
Roman Reigns’ current run in WWE is the perfect example of how much a heel turn can improve a character. Like Cody, Roman faced backlash from fans who grew tired of the company shoving him down their throats. His babyface character had passed its use-by date. The heel turn reinvented Roman’s image while only increasing his popularity. The same thing happened back in 1996 when a stale Hulk Hogan turned to the dark side and launched the NWO, leading to one of the hottest angles in wrestling history. Even uber babyface and highest Make-A-Wish granter John Cena was ready to turn heel in the late 2010s (having custom heel gear made and everything) before Vince McMahon nixed the idea.
If John Cena, of all people, was willing to turn, why not Cody? It’s not as if he lacks awareness. Anyone that has seen his appearances on the AEW backstage vlogs will know that Cody can be very self-aware and self-deprecating. But turning heel is the one bridge he seems unwilling to cross. Is that because he views being a bad guy as a reflection of his true self? Can he not separate Cody Rhodes the character and Cody Runnels the man? Or maybe he’s just addicted to the adulation of the fans and unwilling to give that up; it could be why he set himself on fire and dressed up as Fuego II, just to receive that positive affirmation from the audience.
In many ways, Cody reminds me of the character Ace Spade from the Starz show Heels. The Stephen Amell drama series revolves around an independent wrestling promotion owned by brothers Jack and Ace Spade. Ace is a clean-cut babyface who the crowd absolutely adores until something happens that turns them against him. Try as he might to win them back over, Ace is met with rejection. Jack knows it’s time to turn his brother heel; the fans not only demand it, but Ace is good at it, a natural if you will. But Ace resists, believing the mere suggestion of turning heel is an attack on his personal character.
“You do not have to be an asshole to be a heel. You got to be able to take the heat if you’re a heel, and you need to learn how to separate you the character from you the person. You cannot take this shit home with you. And when you’re starting out… that is easier said than done.” – Jack Spade, Heels.
We don’t know the exact reasons Cody chose to part ways with AEW, but I’d be shocked if his refusal to turn heel didn’t at least contribute. If Tony wanted the heel turn and Cody didn’t, it’s reasonable to think that it led to creative clashes. It would also explain the disjointed booking over the past year, with this half-measure, heel-but-not-really Cody character, which had the air of a forced compromise where neither party was particularly satisfied. It’s why despite the Pedigree teases, the “Cody Sucks!” chants, and his wife entering through the heel tunnel, Cody would still cut babyface promos and primarily feud with bad guys. In turn, it led to a baffling character involved in awkward storylines, which diminished Cody’s stock as a main event talent to the point where Tony felt it wasn’t worth meeting Cody’s contract demands.
As of writing, Cody is a free agent, and rumors suggest he is likely WWE-bound. It’s a surprising development given that Cody was an EVP at AEW and had a significant role in birthing the company. But it becomes less surprising the more you look back at his actions on and off-screen over the past year. I’m sure WWE will offer him a major money contract — and good for him. At
the end of the day, it’s his choice and nobody can take that away from him. He will undoubtedly receive the hero’s welcome he so craves when he first makes his WWE return. But how long will those cheers last? Six months? A year? What happens if the crowd turns on him again and Vince McMahon wants him to turn heel? Without the executive title and backstage influence, he might not have a choice next time.
