‘We Want Cody’ Chants Add To the Cody Rhodes Heat on WWE RAW

The first RAW in February took place at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, MO, only days following the bombshell ending to Friday’s SmackDown that saw the return of The Rock to begin his WrestleMania program with his cousin and current Undisputed WWE World Champion for over 1,200 days, Roman Reigns.

The segment began with Roman addressing Seth Rollins’ promo from RAW, but it ended with Cody Rhodes making his decision to fight Rollins’ by bringing out The Rock instead. The following days on social media made it evident that the WWE Universe is not entirely on board with The Rock usurping Cody’s deserving spot after winning the Royal Rumble for the second consecutive year in a row. RAW started with two of the four men currently entangled in this potential Mania debacle, Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins.

RHODES TO ROLLINSMANIA

It was shocking how upfront the WWE commentary team of Michael Cole and Pat McAfee was about the discontent fans had for The Rock, breaking into a “Rocky sucks” chant early in the segment. Even the production team was willing to show fan signs in support of Cody and even antagonist ones against Rock. Seth paused for a minute as “We want Cody” chants broke out, and the two men in the ring enjoyed the genuine support.

However, the moment Seth doubled down on the idea that his championship is “the most prestigious” in all of wrestling, the crowd quickly turned on Seth, and McAfee once again acknowledged the discontent from his ringside vantage point. Seth admitted that he ‘needed the match’ with Cody just as much as Cody needed Seth and then demanded Cody answer Seth’s question of whether he would wrestle Seth for his title at Mania, a question that prompted boos from the crowd.

The question to Rhodes brought out Drew McIntyre, and he played the slightly comedic heel, but he also made some very real, solid points in favor of Cody picking Roman Reigns. Specifically, Drew acknowledged Cody beating Seth on three separate occasions and the lack of need to settle anything.

McIntyre even evoked the tagline from WWE2K24, “Finish your story,” meant to represent the cover athlete Cody Rhodes. This was the best McIntyre has been on the mic in recent memory, even going as far as claiming nobody wants to wrestle for Roman’s title because ‘his family interferes.’

A brawl provoked by McIntyre attacking Seth ended the segment, yet again without Cody’s decision being verbally submitted. There have been reports circulating the dirt sheets that WWE will milk this decision if they can to receive a huge pop when he finally commits.

The direction seems to point to WWE doing all they can to get the fans behind the idea that Seth’s title is meaningful and Cody’s story is ‘finished enough’ for now. RAW’s general manager fined McIntyre in a later segment, and it feels like he isn’t far from at least one Maina title match.

HOUSTON, WE HAVE A WORTHY JEY USO FEUD!

An Imperium segment meant to glorify Gunther’s 600-day reign as intercontinental champion opened his next feud. The longest reigning IC champ got the attention of Main Event Jey Uso. Jey then went over his accolades as a tag team champion, but his real flex was how he held the crowd in his hand.

Gunther, who is normally great on the mic, was just a half beat behind Jey. Still, this feud feels fresh, and this is Jey’s chance to really show something. This year is supposed to be where Jey receives his big single’s push, and dethroning Gunther as IC champ would be a rocket booster to his ascension.

WRESTLEMANIA GOES BIG

The RAW commentating team promoted Thursday’s WrestleMania press conference, where Rock-Reigns is supposed to be made official. Cole said when promoting Thursday’s presser, the “controversial” nature of what’s going on between SmackDown and RAW main events will be discussed, and “questions will be answered.”

CODY RHODES STAYING FRESH

Cody main-evented RAW in a “Bull Rope” match against Nakamura, where the wrist straps together both competitors with a leather strap. Cody usually excels in these matches as he takes it back to old-school wrestling. Rhodes locked in the figure-four heading into the ad break, but Nakamura gained control when TV returned. Nakamura was just too wild to connect on his big shots, and he even countered Nakamura into a pedigree.

Cody was eventually split open, bleeding all over WWE TV in a very McMahon-free era. Cody would eventually use the strap to ‘low blow’ Nakamura, hitting the ‘crossroads for the win. RAW closed out with McIntyre attacking a worn-out Cody with no remorse. McIntyre is hitting all the right notes to keep himself in the mix.

IN RING ACTION:

• #DIY defeated The Creed Brothers, The New Day, and Imperium in the second half of the tag team tornado four-way, the first of which occurred on SmackDown this past Friday. The match was stacked with talent and was very exciting. The action was solid, and #DIY was booked solid. They will go on to face Pete Dunn and Tyler Bate this Friday on SmackDown, where the winner will be named number one contender for the tag team titles.
• Becky Lynch defeated Shayna Bazler to qualify for the Elimination Chamber.
• A program between Rhea Ripley and Nia Jax was furthered with their Elimination Chamber title match a few weeks away, and the two were separated after a brawl broke out. The feud feels rushed and slow at the same time. Jax does not feel like a real contender despite her strong booking.
• R-Truth was, once again, one of the best things on RAW. Miz faced McDonagh in what seems to be an eventual program with R-Truth and Miz facing the tag champs, but the storyline can be furthered a bit quicker.

Mario Mungia

Mario Mungia Jr. has a decade worth of experience as a combat sports journalist and correspondent which began with ThaBoxingVoice (TBV) as a podcast co-host, writer and editor-in-chief. Aside from his online resume, Mario spent a fair portion of his early career working for Spanish/English magazine Premier Round and the Mexican website Izquierdo. Mario has also contributed to NYFights while simultaneously working for MIC Sports Network as part of the broadcast crew covering local high school sports. Since then, he has launched his own podcast/live stream (Infighting/Work In Progress) and is covering pro wrestling for FightsATW.

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