At WWE Clash In Italy, Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes controversially retained his title when the referee failed to see that the foot of his challenger, GUNTHER, laid beneath the bottom rope during "The American Nightmare's" cover. Still a babyface, Rhodes then offered GUNTHER a championship rematch on "WWE SmackDown."According to WWE Hall of Famer Eric Bischoff, WWE may have been better served by producing a different outcome at Clash In Italy, one that would have dramatically shaken up the respective world title picture."I'd turn Cody heel," Bischoff said on "83 Weeks." "Cody probably has no interest in it, I don't know if he does or he doesn't, but I'd need to hit the refresh button here. It's great and all, but it's been great and all for a long time. I need something that's a little different in order to engage. Not that it's not good, it's great. It's great business. Business-wise, it's great. Business-wise, maybe there's no reason to make any changes, and it's all about the business. It dictates what you do. But if the business is not what it once was, and there's an opportunity to light a new fire under it and create new business, I'd be all about it. Especially right now, WWE's kind of reached a flatline."Since returning to WWE in 2022, Rhodes has largely shut down the idea of him turning heel, especially given his wide success as a top company babyface. In recent months, though, Rhodes has seemingly warmed up to it as he's stated that he's open-minded to all creative avenues.
Regarding the WWE product currently surrounding Rhodes, Bischoff clarified that "flatlining" doesn't equate to death, but rather, a plateau. A heel turn from Rhodes, in Bischoff's eyes, would freshen up the product, and more importantly, possibly get WWE back on an upward trajectory, however."That just means it's kind of cruising along, just doing the same old stuff every week," Bischoff said. "That's not good TV. Good TV grows. There are certain times a year it's a little harder. It's harder this time of year for a lot of reasons. It's harder in the fall when football kicks in. But there's a period between the end of the football season, the regular season, especially the end of the playoffs and about now when NBA playoffs get hot. So you got a window there, couple months, you can really heat things up so that you could go into the summer with the audience engaged as best you can. Hopefully they're going to come up with something that kicks it in gear. I'd love to see a different character out of Cody."In his three reigns as Undisputed WWE Champion, Rhodes has firmly cemented himself as a top face of WWE, so much so that he's often referred to as "QB1." Rhodes continues to be one of WWE's best sellers in terms of merchandise as well, alongside the likes of former World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk and Danhausen.Coming out of Clash In Italy, Rhodes' rematch offering was accepted by GUNTHER, though under the added condition that "The Ring General" would choose the stipulation.Further details of the Rhodes-GUNTHER follow-up clash, including that stipulation and its time, have yet to be revealed.If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "83 Weeks" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
