Cody Rhodes has addressed the heel turn discussion that intensified following Stephanie McMahon’s return on Raw last month during the build to WrestleMania, saying he is not turning heel right now, that the timing has to be right, and that the decision to remain himself sometimes means accepting crowd reaction he might not want.
Speaking on his What Do You Want to Talk About podcast at WWE Warehouse, Cody discussed the Stephanie McMahon segment at Madison Square Garden with his guests, who were in attendance that night. He confirmed the slap landed harder than it may have appeared.
“I’m not gonna be honest, man. I felt it in my feet.”
He said McMahon’s music hitting the Garden immediately told him what kind of night it was going to be.
“Heard the music play and went, okay, now it’s her town.”
On the broader question of whether the Stephanie appearance signals a heel turn for him, Cody was direct. He said he is open to turning heel but made clear it is not the current plan, and that he is not going to compromise who he is on screen until it is.
“There’s this whole discussion on, like, when is he gonna turn heel. I’m open to it, gosh, but when that’s the plan, that’s the plan. Right now I get to be me, and me makes the decisions I think are the appropriate decisions. Appropriate sometimes gets you booed. But I’d rather be that in the end.”
He used John Cena as a reference point for what it means to commit to a character even when it draws a complicated reaction, calling Cena the greatest, most appropriate, most virtuous babyface of all time. Click below to listen to the entire podcast with his guest, superfans Sean and Finn Rhatigan.
