Insight Into How Cody Rhodes-Paul Heyman Raw Promo Came Together
There has been more information revealed regarding the epic promo confrontation between Paul Heyman and Cody Rhodes on WWE Monday Night Raw.
Cody Rhodes was alone in the ring on the February 6th episode of Raw wearing a suit and doing a promo about his Undisputed WWE Universal Championship match at WrestleMania 39 on April 1st or April 2nd. Rhodes earned that opportunity after winning the Men’s Royal Rumble match last month and that means Cody will challenge Roman Reigns for the WWE & Universal Titles.
Paul Heyman, the Special Counsel to Reigns, interrupted the promo as Rhodes and Heyman shared memories of Cody’s late, WWE Hall of Fame father Dusty Rhodes. Cody Rhodes told the story about how in 2000 when his family was dealing with some hard times, Heyman booked Dusty in ECW. Cody was grateful for that because it gave Dusty his confidence back and Heyman looked visibly shaken while crying at the memory of Dusty.
Toward the end of their promos, Heyman made it clear that while Cody was Dusty’s favorite son, Roman Reigns was the son that the son Dusty always wanted. The fans hated that because it was a mean-spirited thing for Heyman to say although it’s also fitting for the kind of heel performer that Heyman has been for the past 30 years. As Cody shook Heyman’s hand, Rhodes said that Heyman just made it personal. Cody told Heyman that Reigns will pay for it when Cody takes those WWE & Universal Titles…personally.
In an earlier update on the story, the Wrestling Observer reported that Heyman wasn’t originally booked for last Monday’s Raw, but Heyman and Rhodes put the segment together.
It was reported by Fightful Select that the Cody Rhodes-Paul Heyman benefitted from WWE’s looser script that has taken over with Triple H running the creative team since Vince McMahon originally retired last July. Their report noted that some of what Cody said may have taken Heyman by surprise.
The report from Fightful added that people familiar with the inner workings of the promo noted that Heyman came up with his part of the promo while Rhodes came up with his part and it came together perfectly. The talent involved in the promo were reportedly thrilled by it while fans watching at home loved it as well as the crowd in attendance. It was added that higher-ups and officials in WWE were thrilled with the content and the fan reception is because it was a key promo in building the Roman Reigns-Cody Rhodes match at WrestleMania 39.
This comment was also shared by Fightful noting that it came from a higher-up individual in WWE:
“Cody Rhodes is a star, and Paul Heyman is a starmaker. They were in a difficult position, and made something that seemed like a manufactured booking decision become a personal, WrestleMania main event if it ends up going that direction.”
Before WrestleMania 39 takes place, Roman Reigns will have to defend his Undisputed WWE Universal Titles against Sami Zayn at Elimination Chamber in Montreal on February 18th. Cody Rhodes will take on whoever the champion is at the time of WrestleMania 39.