Brian Gewirtz Says Cody Rhodes’ Demeanor Was Supposed To Be Different When He Stepped Aside For The Rock

Brian Gewirtz explains why Cody Rhodes passing on his WrestleMania main event to The Rock didn’t exactly go according to plan.

Former WWE head writer Brian Gewirtz was a recent guest on The Ringer’s Masked Man Show. When asked about the fan backlash to Cody Rhodes handing his WrestleMania main event to The Rock so he could face Roman Reigns instead on the February 2 episode of SmackDown, Gewirtz said Rhodes’ promo was supposed to be uplifting. But instead, he looked like someone who just had their dog shot in the face.

“Cody is a human being who is genuine and real. He wears his heart and emotion on his sleeve,” Brian Gewirtz said. “In Alabama, certainly, even if you tell me, ‘that would never work, it’s stupid to propose it.’ The idea was supposed to be, it’s like the Nixon-Kenedy debate a little bit where you read the transcript, you’re like ‘Nixon kicked his ass.’

“If you watch the actual footage, ‘Oh, he was a sweaty terrible mess.’ Cody, it was supposed to be, in some form, ‘Yeah, F*ckin A! Go get ’em, Rock! You’re going to get your ass kicked, Roman! Let’s do this!’ and this uplifting promo. Instead, he looked like someone shot his dog in the face in the parking lot.

Cody Rhodes’ facial expressions told the overall story

“Just look at his expression. By the way, someone else, even when the team wins, looks forlorn, and upset, and despondent. Julius Randle [laughs]. That, I don’t think, helped matters. It might not have changed or affected anything. Certainly, on paper, and I don’t blame Cody for that, he’s real and one of the realest people I’ve ever met.

“He said what he had to say in the promo, but you couldn’t mask what he was really feeling, and I think the fans felt that a lot. They felt like ‘he doesn’t mean a word of this. This is being forced for him to say.’ He’s despondent. He’s literally doing the Michael Cera-Arrested Development, Charlie Brown walk out of the arena when he’s supposed to be on cloud nine. I think that had a lot to do with it.” [H/T: Fightful]