Did WWE Turn The Wrong Guy? Cody Rhodes Heel Turn Debate | WrestleChop Podcast

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Did WWE turn the wrong guy?

Randy Orton snapping on Cody Rhodes was the biggest moment on SmackDown, but the more I think about it… the more I believe WWE may have flipped the wrong switch. What if Cody Rhodes was the one who turned heel?

In this WrestleChop hot takes video we break down why a Cody Rhodes heel turn could have been a way more interesting story heading into WrestleMania 42 and the WWE Undisputed Championship picture. Cody has been the ultimate babyface for years now, but sometimes the best stories happen when the hero finally snaps.

We talk about how Randy Orton returning to his classic heel role works, but why a darker version of Cody Rhodes might actually raise the stakes even more on the road to WrestleMania.

Would a heel Cody Rhodes make the story better?
Did WWE miss the bigger opportunity here?
Or is Randy Orton exactly the right choice?

These are the hot takes.

And yeah… SmackDown had some huge moments tonight, but this one might change everything heading into WrestleMania 42.

#WWE #SmackDown #CodyRhodes #RandyOrton #WrestleChop


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Transcript

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Smackdown hot takes and boy howdy that was a hot ending to SmackDown yesterday. Randy Orton, the Viper, is back. What? Cream Fresh says it should have been Cody turning. And Uncle Charlie appreciates Moose Mus says Cody should have turned heel, not Orton. And you know what? They're right. It should have been Cody turning heel. Don't get me wrong. I want you to really hear me. I like that Randy turned heel. I am definitely happy with this. It's very exciting. And and heel Randy is the best Randy. But if you look at the facts, it seems like it seems like it'd be more impactful right now if Cody was the one that turned heel. When Randy was beating up Cody yesterday, when he turned on him, it was like, I mean, the fans were still cheering. The fans were definitely cheering. Like, if Cody was as big a babyface as they want us to believe him to be, the fans should at least be booing the act of beating up Cody. You can say all day long, you're like, hey, we love Randy Orton, the wrestler, the person that this, but the act should be getting at least booed. Because for the longest time now, Triple H has been dismissing the internet fans, saying, Yeah, well, I use the the audience in the butts in the seats as my litnitz test to see what I'm gonna do. Well, if now you got the internet saying, no, we don't want babyface Cody anymore, and now you even have at least half of the audience in the arena saying, boo Cody, yay, Randy, bloody him up. That to me says that the audience has now officially turned. Yes, yes, Cody's still gonna have his fans. There's a lot of people that still cheer Cody Rhodes, but come on. I don't think there's anybody booing Randy Orton. Like, really, nobody was booing babyface Randy Orton at all to the point when he turned heel on the biggest babyface in your company. At least half the audience was still cheering him, if not more. I didn't really hear anyone boo Randy last night. They gasped, they gasped when Randy attacked, but that was about it. Cody Rhodes would be the perfect heel in this situation because, well, I don't know if anybody would have really seen it coming, especially this soon. Maybe, maybe at WrestleMania, we would have seen Cody turned heel, but like if Cody would have just turned heel on Randy last night, it would have been phenomenal. It would have really been good. Could you imagine? Instead of it was it was Cody talking up Randy and their relationship last night, we reverse it and have Randy talk up their relationship. Everything Cody said had Randy say it. And then boom, we have Cody suddenly attacked. He's like, uh-uh, I've already done this song and dance. Two years ago, Rock turned on me last year. John Cena turned on me. This year, I'm the one that's turning before I can be turned on. No more, not gonna happen. I'm the golden boy for a reason. If half the audience is already booing Cody Rhodes, that means you can get the other half to boo him that much easier. And if he would have turned last night, man, man, that would have been good. And I'm telling you something, Cody is such a good heel. I bet, I bet everybody would have been cheering him in three months. Like for real. I don't know why they're so if they're so willing to let John Cena turn heel last year, I don't know why they're not willing to turn Cody Rhodes heel this year. I know, I know he sells a lot of merchandise, but if I'm not correct, the final ball sold a lot of merchandise. If I'm not correct, uh Roman Reigns, the tribal chief, when he was at his most evil, sold a lot of merchandise. If I'm correct, John Cena turned heel and was still selling shirts and championship belts when he was a heel. So I'm pretty confident Cody could have still sold merchandise as a heel. Nobody is wanting to boo Randy Orton. Take a lesson from last year when nobody wanted to boo John Cena. His heel turn did not work. Yes, there were some moments of brilliance, but for the most part, it did not work. And John Cena will be the first one to tell you that. We're gonna walk into Las Vegas this year, and it's gonna be like it's gonna be kind of split down the middle, and it shouldn't be. We have a baby face and we have a heel, it should be clear cut. In the Roman Reigns CM Punk feud, you can be down the middle. You could be down the middle. Half the audience could want one person, the other half could want the other. But here it should be I hate the heel, but nobody hates Randy Orton. It would have been so much better if Cody would have turned heel. He is prime for it. Even on interviews nowadays, he's literally saying that he's the golden boy. He's literally saying I'm okay with people calling me the golden boy and I'm gonna lean into it. Now he has a really good reasoning for it, but at the end of the day, anybody who calls himself I'm the golden boy, that just screams, I'm a heel. And man, man, it would have been so much better if this title was on the line from heel Cody Rhodes, because he'll do anything to make sure he's never turned on again, even if that means he has to be the one that turns on everybody else. What do you think? Do you want Randy to win this championship at Mania? I definitely want to see Heel Randy as champion, and I want to see you as champion as well. How can you win this belt on my shoulder? Turn heel and bloody me up, or or just knock on my door and attack me with a chair. Or or you can comment below and subscribe to the channel. At 20,000 subscribers, I'm gonna give away this belt for real. If you've commented on another video, then don't forget to comment on this video because that means you have two entries to win this belt. I'm only like 600 away from 20,000 subscribers, so we're gonna give this away really soon. So make sure you subscribe and comment. It's not a toy, people, it's a replica. All right. Stefan Betty says, let me hear more about how Drew would have had a more interesting ticket moving mania main event than Orton versus Cody now. I mean, yes, this story is is better now, but literally, literally, if if Triple H's hand hadn't been forced, I don't know if Triple H would have pulled the trigger on this. For all I know, if tickets had sold really well, maybe, maybe Orton wouldn't be turning heel right now. So, like, the fans speaking up against boring storylines is very crucial and critical to the Triple H regime. Because Triple H doesn't do interesting things unless he's forced to. So, like, I agree with you on one hand that this might be a better story, but a week ago it wasn't. Two weeks ago it wasn't, and and Triple H might not have pulled the trigger if uh sales hadn't reflected it. So, like, keep complaining, people for real. Keep complaining, be respectful, but keep voicing your opinions. Next hot take, DS Wise Mark says, now we all know Cody Rhodes is gonna cut the same promo he did against John Cena after the beatdown. Probably he's probably gonna come out and be like, Randy, it didn't have to be this way. I know I asked for for this, Randy, but like it didn't have to be this way. And that's why Cody needs to turn heel back in the old days when there were multiple territories. Once your your act got stale, you didn't have to turn babyface or heel, you just had to leave for for a little bit, go to a uh territory across the country, do your act there until they got bored with it and then came back. In the modern world, you can't do that. So, so your act is pretty much you have to turn heel, but they don't like turn Cody turn heel, so he just has nothing else new to say. Goat Buggy says, OMG, we have to stop trusting a killer snake like Randy. I love what he did to Cody, and now the hate can come out. Yeah, you know what? You if you're gonna trust a snake and you can't get mad at it for biting you. Jessica Noon says, was that supposed to be Randy's heel turn, or just wanting the number 15 showing? I think it's a heel turn. If it was just Randy making a statement saying, I want to be the number 15 time champion, I think it would have just been an RKO and then a couple poses. Crazy Wood says, I still would rather see Drew versus Randy, but I am at least grateful to hopefully not have to hear the R word respect between Cody and Randy for a few weeks. Well, Cody's gonna come out and tell Randy, I respected you so much, how could you do this to me? But yes, God, thank God we don't have to sit through a bunch of just Cody and Randy just glazing each other worse than EO and Rhea ever did. Because boy, howdy, I I was very much thinking it was gonna be three weeks of I respect you so much, thank you for everything. And then maybe a couple tag team matches where they accidentally punch each other. Daniel Pabu says, give Randy Orton the belt, the Viper would be a much more entertaining champion than the Boy Scout Cody Rhodes. Oh my gosh. So this is a very telling comment because Daniel Pabu, if I'm not mistaken, you were a big, big Cody Rhodes supporter months ago, months ago, like six, seven months ago. And now for you to be like, yeah, just take the belt off this boring guy, that is telling. You see, you see, the people are turning on Cody Rhodes. This would have been an excellent time to turn him heel. Calvin Smith says, here's a hot take. All the fans were crying last week. Y'all don't deserve to watch. And Randy and what Randy and Cody are about to cook up. I disagree with this statement so much. Calvin Smith, you're more than welcome to your opinion, but but I do have to uh I have to push back a little. I hope you don't get offended. But like, if people like don't like something that they're presented, they shouldn't be forced to act like they like it because of being feared that they are not fans. Like last week, Randy versus Cody, they've given us nothing, they've given us nothing to make us think that that was gonna be a good storyline. Like, if they would have had five weeks of I respect you, that would have sucked. But now that they flipped somebody, cool, great. And you could be like, Well, you should just let Papa H cook. We let Papa H cooked all of 2025. What did he cook up with Bronson Reed when he beat the tribal chief? Huh? What did they cook up with with Solo Sokoa when for a total year straight he was the main villain of WWE? Look at him right now. He's fighting over a lantern. And not just that, not just that, but let's let's pick apart this Let Papa H cooked segment with the Wyatt's and Solo Sokoa. Solo is constantly getting beat, and and the the they're fighting over a lantern. This this feud has been going on since last August. Let Papa H cook. What about John Cena's heel turn? That thing that a week before SummerSlam, three days before SummerSlam, John Cena just says, you know what? Never mind, I'm a babyface. It's okay to voice your opinions and still be considered a fan. All right. It's like okay. Now you're more than welcome to like everything. If you love this, what is it? September, October, November, December, January, February, March. If you love this seven-month feud over a lantern, and you're like, this is the greatest thing ever, you're more than welcome to love it. But but I am I am within my rights to think that this is not a very good story at this point, and they have lost the plot. That doesn't mean I am not a solo Sokoa fan, and that doesn't mean I'm not an Uncle Howdy fan. It means I am not a fan of this seven-month I'm fighting for a lantern feud. So, like, you are allowed to not like something. I am allowed last week to be like, I am not looking forward to this Randy Orton Cody Rhodes storyline because of how their characters were presented in the moment. This week, right this second, I am looking forward to it because they actually did something to move the needle, which is Triple H and Creative's job. So good job for doing that. I still feel Cody Rhodes would have been the better one to turn heel, but hey, you know what? I will take Randy Orton in a heartbeat. So, like, again, you're more than welcome to your opinion, but saying that people are not fans because they didn't instantly jump aboard when Triple H has consistently and constantly for the last year and a half, two years shown that he doesn't really plan things out, plot things out, and he's all about the respect and and making these stories like kind of just lackluster. I think it's perfectly within their rights to for our fans to be like, yeah, I'm not excited. And and being not excited about something doesn't disqualify your fandom. And then Calvin's like, unsubscribe. David LaCour, horror author, says Drew would be best to just stay away from WWE for an extended time. They have no idea how to use him properly, and they are just completely ruining his character over the last two or three years. I know he lost the belt, and a lot of people were against that, but forget who he lost the belt to. For I just want to focus on the fact that he had a two to three month title reign. A two to three month title reign. I loved it. I loved that title reign, and I'm so happy that he got it. I'm I'm so much more happy that he got it than he didn't get it. Jimbo Slay says, I get that WWE bought Danhausen, brought Danhausen in to sell merch, but I hope they they could be a little bit on the nose about it. After a few months, Danhausen telling me to buy shirts is going to get really annoying. Yeah, that's fair. That's fair. I want I want Danhausen to do more than just say, hey, buy my shirt. However, however, it does track with Danhausen's character as he is all about the monies. And so, like, I could see Dan Hausen really like being like, Yeah, buy my shirt, I want more monies. But I get what you're saying. Joe Litton says, why on earth is solo getting pinned again? He should have been protected. I love you solo. I don't know why they pin him so much. Like, even when it's solo Sokoa and JC Mateo hate that name in a in a tag team match, he takes the pin. He's the leader of the faction. When he was US champion in a tag match, he would take the pin. Why don't we ever protect Solo? Ever. Like, he has four people behind him, and Solo's the one that takes the bullet all the time. TTJC says, Rhea should have just stayed backstage or something. Yeah, it's like, what was the point of her coming out? She literally comes out and then Jade just walks away and she's like, You're not, you're not the B-word, you're not a B word, you're gonna be my B word. So is this feud literally based on just the B word? It's like this feud sucks. Buddy Murphy, can you please slide into Jade's DMs so this can become interesting? Like, I miss, I missed the car crash of of Tiffany and Charlotte from last year. It's OTW says Drew just gotta kill Aldous on screen or something. Kind of funny that Randy Orton's the one that attacked Aldous first and not Drew. Noncyclist Pro says, I know Chop was or isn't a Sammy fan, but I have to say, you're wrong right there. I don't know why you think I'm not a Sammy fan. Is it because I don't say, oh my god, I love Sami Zayn in every segment he's ever been in? Because honest to God, Sami Zayn, bloodline Sami Zayn is one of my favorite gimmicks of all time. I love Sami Zayn. Now there is a big difference between saying I love Sami Zayn and saying I love Sami Zayn no matter what, every single second of the day. I can literally hate Sami Zayn's character right now, but still love Sami Zayn from yesteryear. So I love Sami Zayn, but I do not like the Sami Zayn character ever since he beat Gunther at WrestleMania 40. However, I have started to enjoy him again. I enjoyed him again during his US title reign, and now this crash out Sammy, I'm really liking. Kid Wilkes says hot take about hot takes. Everyone talking about the hot angle makes Chop's video shorter since he usually covers that in great detail on the one take one shot review. You figured it out, my friend. You figured it out. So if you want a better shot at getting your comment read, you want to talk about something that other people aren't gonna necessarily talk about. Now, granted, today I did actually do the same topic from yesterday's, but I did it from a different angle. Yesterday was celebrating Randy Orton turning heel. Today was should Cody have turned heel? So there is a difference. If you are so inclined to talk about the hottest topic, make sure you come at it from a different angle. Because I need to come at videos from a different angle if I want people in the wrestling community to click on my videos. And I need people to click on my videos because I need to quit that day job. Tiz Mickey says, So is it just me, or did anyone else not feel anything during the Randy Heel turn? Like the only time I felt anything was when he pushed jelly roll. Even though it was great, it was awesome. It was kind of like, oh, we're doing that now. Okay, cool. It's like it just came early. It was like you were expecting that, you just didn't know when it was gonna happen. It's like you're observing an animal eat the other animal. You're like, you you know on some level that this is like brutal, but you're like, it's just the natural course of things. Animals eat animals. Randy Orton turns on his friends. Kennel B says, my hot take is that ending was amazing. I literally paused life. Kind of vibes of of uh Batista and Rey Mysterio, to be honest with you. Roman Reigns acknowledge me says, innocent water bottles versus Sami Zayn at WrestleMania. I did notice that too. It's like for the last like four or five weeks, Sami Zayn he comes in all nice. The person leaves, he's all mad, and then he hits a water bottle. Carmichael says Jelly Roll has no business being that good of a promo. The whole Miz segment was gold. Miz and Kit make an oddly great team. Yep, I think I think the Miz has found his protege. And I can't believe I'm about to say this, but I kinda want Jelly Roll and Dan Housen versus Miz and Kit Wilson. Congratulations, Jelly Roll. You made me, you, you, you finally, oh, I I hate that I'm saying this, but you finally made me want to see you in a match. Raphael and air says, get the tag team division off the MFT Vortex, please. I need the tag team chaotic chaos again. Yeah, the tag team division, far cry from what it was last year. Totally, totally took a nosedive. Willy nilly in the willy nilly drew losing his title is one thing, but having a legend turn heel on Cody before a title match, before Mania, for the third year in a row is absolutely ridiculous. Don't know who next year is. Maybe LA Knight, fingers crossed. I know he's not a legend on par with those guys, but maybe LA Knight could turn heel on him next year. At least we'll get something with that guy. Yeah. All right, boys, all right, girls. See ya bye.