Jason Burgos
It seems that Cody Rhodes‘ promo on this week’s edition of SmackDown was a late addition to the show to push back on recent involvement from WWE’s parent company, TKO Group Holdings.
On Friday night, WWE fans were massively disappointed when it was revealed that Pat McAfee was the mystery caller pushing Randy Orton to go to dark places to take the WWE undisputed title from Rhodes at WrestleMania 42.
Following nearly universal frustration with the reveal from WWE’s fanbase, reports have emerged that the decision to randomly involve the sometimes analyst and performer in the storyline came from the top. But not from the top of WWE. From their parent company, TKO. Where CEO Ari Emanuel has high hopes for McAfee in Hollywood and is a big believer in his reach among ESPN viewers.
Towards the end of SmackDown, Rhodes returned to the ring to cut a promo clarifying that his battle with Orton is the payoff of a 20-year story, and not a fight to return the company to the Attitude Era as McAfee alluded. And if decision makers don’t like it, they can fire him. Well, he reportedly wasn’t talking to Paul “Triple H” Levesque and Tony Khan.
Cody Rhodes SmackDown promo aimed at TKO bosses?
According to both PW Insider and Body Slam.net, the Rhodes promo was not originally listed on the show’s run sheet. Body Slam also claims it was a late addition to the show after the resoundingly poor reception from fans to the return of McAfee. This week’s SmackDown has gotten historically bad reviews on ratings sites and more dislikes than likes for the video of McAfee’s return on YouTube.
Furthermore, Body Slam claims that sources informed them that Rhodes was told by members of WWE creative to shoot from the hip regarding Pat McAfee’s comments on why he returned and TKO’s involvement in the storyline. The outlet alleges that the WWE undisputed champion and some members of creative are legitimately annoyed with TKO for sticking their nose in creative so close to WrestleMania multiple years in a row.
TKO was reportedly a driving force in The Rock and Travis Scott being involved in John Cena’s heel turn a year ago. However, the pair did nothing to finish that storyline later in the year.
