Report: Cody Rhodes told to ‘shoot from the hip’ on WWE SmackDown
Updates are available on the promo that Cody Rhodes delivered on WWE SmackDown on Friday.
Following the opening angle that saw Pat McAfee revealed as the person Randy Orton had been speaking to on the phone, Rhodes returned to the ring and cut a promo before the main event. During the segment, he compared the earlier angle to if Disco Inferno had been the NWO’s third man.
On Saturday, PWInsider wrote that Rhodes’ promo responding to the opening angle was not listed on the planned rundown for the show, and that there is belief some of Rhodes’ comments reflected his real thoughts on TKO inserting McAfee into the storyline.
Bodyslam+ similarly reported that Rhodes was instructed to go to the ring and “shoot from the hip” regarding McAfee’s involvement, also noting that the promo was not listed on the planned rundown. The report added that both Rhodes and members of the WWE creative team have “legitimate gripes” with TKO for “sticking their nose in storylines close to WrestleMania” multiple years in a row.
Following the angle on Friday night, Dave Meltzer responded to a user on X, saying that McAfee’s insertion into the storyline was an Ari Emanuel call.
Ian Carey is a writer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, whose work has been featured in NOW Magazine, The Huffington Post, and more. A lifelong wrestling aficionado born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, he has covered the industry for a decade and a half. He joined the f4wonline.com team in 2019.