Cody Rhodes' absence from WWE SmackDown is driving Vince Russo nuts (Exclusive)

Cody Rhodes hasn't appeared on WWE television since he dropped the undisputed title to John Cena at WrestleMania 41. The American Nightmare was most notably absent from this week's episode of SmackDown.

During the latest episode of BroDown on Sportskeeda WrestleBinge, Vince Russo called out WWE for keeping Cody Rhodes out of the latest SmackDown, noting their booking was driving him nuts.

"Mac, I swear to God that they do this all the time. It drives me nuts when they don't know what to do with somebody. They just keep them off TV. That's what they do. They don't know what to do with Cody right now. Like when he's going to come back and cut a promo. When they don't know what to do with somebody, they're just absent from TV, which drives me nuts," Russo said. [From 45:15 onwards]

Dutch Mantell chimed in by implying that Cody Rhodes's absence from the show was better than having him on the episode and forcing an angle or a storyline out of him like they did in the lead-up to WrestleMania XL.

"But in this case, Cody can thank his lucky stars that they don't know. Oh, yeah, instead of forcing something and get out there and say this and say that because they tried to do that before, you know, when The Rock was there and they had that big smiles about he was going to face Roman Reigns," Mantell said. "And they finally got it worked out. It kind of worked. But I don't think they had that worked out all the way either." [From 45:35 onwards]

Fans will have to wait to see if the American Nightmare returns to WWE programming before Backlash 2025.

Please credit Sportskeeda and embed the YouTube video if you use any quotes from this article.

About the author

Manik Aftab writes Exclusive articles for Sportskeeda Wrestling’s WWE division. A BA (Hons) in English Literature helped him improve his writing skills before starting his career as a pro wrestling writer.

Before joining Sportskeeda, Aftab worked for Ringside News and The Sportster, where his wrestling articles and feature pieces consistently ranked on the first page of Google SERPs.

He prioritizes accuracy, relevance, and ethics in his reporting by conducting thorough research, verifying sources, and adhering to professional journalistic standards.

While Aftab’s favorite wrestler in AEW is Hangman Adam Page, he doesn’t have a favorite in WWE yet. However, he considers Stone Cold Steve Austin to be the greatest professional wrestler of all time. His earliest memory of watching pro wrestling was when The Rock faced The New Age Outlaws in a handicap match, but it was the John Cena vs. Edge match from Unforgiven 2006 that got him hooked. If given the chance to manage a star from the Attitude Era, he would choose The British Bulldog, as he believes Davey Boy Smith was a terrific worker and could've benefitted from having a mouthpiece for his lack of mic skills.

When not watching pro wrestling, Aftab enjoys reading science fiction and watching anime.

Know More

Edited by Angana Roy