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Cody Rhodes had a small involvement during RAW's debut on Netflix. This left a veteran furious.
Stevie Richards is the latest to comment on Cody Rhodes' involvement on RAW. The American Nightmare has been the face of the company ever since he won the Undisputed WWE Championship at WrestleMania 40. Despite being the top champion, Cody Rhodes didn't have a match on RAW's debut on Netflix. Instead, he was seated in the front row while The Rock addressed the crowd. The Final Boss even hugged him. Cody was then moved to the back only to make his entrance and attack Kevin Owens after the latter interfered in Roman Reigns' match.
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Speaking on The Stevie Richards Show, the WWE veteran was furious over how Cody Rhodes was booked on RAW. He said it looked like The Rock was granting a wish to a sick kid. Richards also voiced his disapproval over full-time roster members sitting in the crowd. He questioned why Cody was in the crowd and called it a setup segment so that The Final Boss could hug and address him.
"I was like, 'This looks like The Rock granting a wish to a sick kid live on RAW.' [...] I think everybody who's a full-time roster member should not ever sit in the crowd unless Cody was out there for the entire night which also could be distracting for the matches to get into the ring to fight Kevin Owens. But they had him out there, and then they shuffled him to the back empty seats once again, as you said, to have his music hit. Why were you even in the crowd to begin with? That just looked like a setup segment."
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Stevie Richards further suggested they could have held a contest where the winner would sit next to the WWE Champion. Then, Kevin Owens could have drawn him out of the crowd for a fight, which would have gotten a better response.
"If you're going to have him out there, have him out there all night greeting fans, signing... maybe you attach it to this person won a contest so where we can sit in the fancy cinema chairs and watch the show with the WWE Champion. Okay, I got that, but then Kevin Owens can do something to draw Cody out to join the fight. I think that would have gotten an even better response. There was no rhyme or reason for the talent to be out there except they were told to sit out there as marks, especially your Undisputed WWE Champion." [5:34 - 7:00]
Jonathan Coachman suggested that Cody Rhodes could drop the title to John Cena
John Cena also made a surprise appearance during RAW's premiere on Netflix to kick off his farewell tour. He announced that he would participate in the Royal Rumble match and even teased winning his 17th World Title. Since then, fans have been fantasy-booking who Cena could defeat to win his 17th World Title.
On The Coach & Bro Show, Jonathan Coachman suggested that John Cena could dethrone Cody Rhodes for the WWE Championship.
"To me, you have a couple of matches where he says, 'Hey, I gotta get the ring rust off,' then you put him on a pay-per-view, and then you spend two months building up to a world championship match. God, I hope it's not against Gunther but it could be. I think it's gonna be Cody Rhodes to be honest with you. So, that would be three," he said.
It will be interesting to see if John Cena will win his 17th World Title on his farewell tour.
If you use quotes from the article's first half, please give an H/T to Sportskeeda and credit The Stevie Richards Show.
