Hall Of Famer Believes Cody Rhodes Sounded “Very Arrogant” And “Like A Heel” On WWE SmackDown

A WWE Hall of Famer thinks Cody Rhodes could have used some different words while talking to Gunther on WWE SmackDown.

The Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes will put his championship on the line against GUNTHER at WWE Clash in Italy on Sunday, May 31st, in Turin, Italy.

In their final face-to-face on SmackDown in Barcelona, Cody Rhodes and Gunther exchanged words as each man showed their confidence going into the match. The babyface Rhodes made the point that he, heelish Gunther, lies about not wanting to be the face of WWE the way that Cody is. Here’s part of what Cody said.

“I’m gonna tell you something. I know that you want it. Otherwise, I’d be talking to a 330lb version of yourself in front of a couple hundred people at an indy show. But instead, I’m talking to the most refined, most dangerous, the peak form of an athlete that you have made yourself.”

“At Clash in Italy, you’re gonna get this close to finding all that attention that you desperately seek, and you know it. Don’t dare stand there and lie to me. But you’re gonna get this close and then you’re gonna find out the worst thing that a pure wrestler, a sporting wrestler like you could ever find out, and it’s simple… you’re just not that good.”

When Gunther spoke on SmackDown, he talked about Cody being handed everything in his career, like when he wanted to be a wrestler, wanted to go to WWE, and wanted to leave WWE. Gunther also claimed it was easy for Cody to come back to WWE.

On Busted Open After Dark, WWE Hall of Famer Mark Henry supported what Gunther said on SmackDown.

“What GUNTHER said was true to a lack of a better term. GUNTHER is not lying. What he’s saying, there is no lies.

The promo that he had in the ring tonight was basically him saying that Cody was handed everything. That he was one phone call away from going and getting wrestling training. That he was one call away from getting a job in WWE. That he was one call away from title matches and that success he achieved.

There was no lies but Cody did not rebuttal the way that I would have.”

Cody Rhodes Responding To Gunther On WWE SmackDown Sounded Heelish

While Cody Rhodes remains a natural babyface in the current WWE landscape, many people want to see him turn heel, and some of them also think he sounds like a heel already. At least that’s how Mark Henry feels.

“He (Cody) made reference to GUNTHER being ‘big’ GUNTHER. In my opinion, Cody shouldn’t have been worried about GUNTHER being refined and him losing the weight. What’s wrong with wrestling the indies? What’s wrong with wrestling in front of 250 people? You’ve gotten so refined that you’re above wrestling in front of 250 people now? It made him sound like a heel to me. I’ve been saying this for months, almost a year. The stuff that Cody says is very arrogant and offsetting… He is 100% Homelander now.

If Cody wanted to resonate with the masses he should have said ‘GUNTHER you’ve evolved. You’ve changed. You’ve had it rough. But you don’t have it anywhere near as rough as you used to. You talk about me being one phone call away, you still have your father, you can make that one phone call. I don’t. You talk about me making one phone call to get it done, in order to make one phone call I’ve got to be close enough, good enough, refined enough, not troublesome, in order to make that phone call.”

Henry continued talking about what Rhodes should have said to Gunther.

‘And even then, I got fired. I got told to hit the road, and then I had to reinvent myself. There was nobody to call then, I had to do it. And I did. I started another company, which is now our competition by the way.’ And then I said, ‘You know what? I need to go home. And I didn’t make a phone call, buddy they called me. I’m beyond making calls, I’m Cody damn Rhodes.’

“He should have went into that. The crowd would have came along with him for the ride, put GUNTHER in his place. ‘I don’t know whether to call you GUNTHER or WALTER. I said you were refined, maybe I’m better talking to WALTER, he had ambition and class. He didn’t sneak up behind anybody. He never tried to choke me from behind, he would’ve stepped up to my face. Maybe you need to look in the mirror, maybe you need to make a phone call to the past.’ That’s the Cody that I wanted to hear.”

As he continued making his point about how Cody Rhodes sounded on SmackDown, Henry praised Rhodes for his ability to stay on top in WWE.

“I think that Cody Rhodes should lean more into not worrying about what Paul Heyman said, but what he has learned in his journey to get to that mountain top. Cody deserves to be on that mountain top.

It’s harder to stay on the mountain than it is to get there. And Cody has done an unbelievable job of staying on the mountain these last five years. A lot of people don’t even have five-year careers, nevertheless five years on top.”

WWE Clash in Italy takes place on Sunday, May 31st. Here’s the lineup.

* Tribal Combat Match for the World Heavyweight Championship: Roman Reigns (c) vs. Jacob Fatu

* Undisputed WWE Championship: Cody Rhodes (c) vs. Gunther

* WWE Women’s Championship: Rhea Ripley (c) vs. Jade Cargill

* Oba Femi vs. Brock Lesnar

* Women’s Intercontinental Championship: Becky Lynch (c) vs. Sol Ruca

You can watch WWE Clash in Italy on Sunday, May 31, at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT on the ESPN App with an ESPN Unlimited plan in the United States and Netflix internationally.

Also Read: What Happened With Cody Rhodes After WWE SmackDown Went Off Air