Reason why Cody Rhodes won at Crown Jewel explained by WWE legend

WWE Superstar Cody Rhodes defeated Gunther in Riyadh to become the inaugural men’s Crown Jewel Champion. While several fans would have preferred to see The King General as the victor, WWE legend Bully Ray explained why Rhodes won the match.

On the latest episode of his Busted Open podcast, he spoke about the Champion vs. Champion matches. Standing by the company’s decision to choose Cody Rhodes over Gunther, the WWE Hall of Famer said:

“It's the right decision for the big corporate company with their big-money corporate relationship with the Crown Jewel event. You have your smiling, World Heavyweight Champion babyface win. Now, conversely, Liv is not your smiling Women's World Champion babyface. But, Liv was the right decision also.” [H/T Wrestling Inc]

While The Dudley Boy stated The American Nightmare’s babyface character as the reason for his win, Gunther also recently showed a potential babyface turn.

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Gunther shocks WWE Universe by defending Cody Rhodes

This week on RAW, Cathy Kelley interviewed the World Heavyweight Champion regarding his loss to Cody Rhodes at Crown Jewel. While asking The King of the Ring for a comment, Ludwig Kaiser spoke up in his stead. The German superstar said that The American Nightmare was an undeserving winner who just got lucky.

But the Imperium leader didn’t allow his teammate to badmouth the Undisputed WWE Champion. Gunther cut him off and said that Rhodes was the better wrestler on the night at the Premium Live Event and deserved to be the inaugural Crown Jewel Champion.

He also said that he would improve himself. The King General then taunted Kaiser for talking big about taking care of Sheamus but failing to defeat The Celtic Warrior.

Gunther constantly projects himself as the superior wrestler, above everyone else. He recently also disrespected two of the greatest Hall of Famers, Bret Hart and Bill Goldberg. He even fired personal shots at both the legends.

Thus, praising Cody Rhodes shocked everyone, especially when he constantly called him a second-rate champion ahead of Crown Jewel. With this potential babyface tease, it would be interesting to see if WWE will have babyface World Champions on both RAW and SmackDown.