It’s clear that despite being on course to face each other in the main event of WrestleMania 39 (one of two, anyway), Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns are not going to be standing across the ring from each other every week until then. That’s OK because sometimes the anticipation is worth it, and also because Reigns has someone in his corner who can keep any program going, Paul Heyman.
On the Feb. 6 episode of Raw, Rhodes and Heyman proved they could stoke the flames for Los Angeles with a very effective, very emotional promo.
This week? Not so much.
The exchange between the two men on Raw in Ottawa was off a little bit from the start. Heyman appeared on the big video screen in a neck brace, still selling his unfortunate physical intervention after the main event of Elimination Chamber two nights prior.
He also used a strange tactic, taking a while to try to convince that Rhodes, whose whole motivation is that he wants to win the world championship his late father never could … doesn’t really want to win it after all? According to Heyman, the demands of being the champ aren’t worth the effort.
Perhaps the most awkward part of this week’s segment, however, was that Rhodes didn’t get to respond effectively, getting only a little time to warn Reigns not to send Heyman out there again and insist that he would “finish the story” at WrestleMania.
Rhodes took to social media to explain afterward that he simply wasn’t given as much time as he expected.
Sorry the mic time got cut short and apologies for losing my temper a bit, but more importantly Ottawa…I wasn’t sure you’d be interested in the merch for The American Nightmare…boy was I wrong 😂, thank you VERY much and next time hopefully I’ll be in action. Wonderful night.
— Cody Rhodes (@CodyRhodes) February 21, 2023
It’s live TV, so it happens. But it would have been interesting to hear what Rhodes actually had planned as a response to Heyman.
The closer WrestleMania gets, the greater the chances of Rhodes and Reigns appearing on the same Raw or SmackDown, so this shouldn’t be a big deal in the grand scheme of things. But it does go to show that even for two performers who are great on the microphone, not everything always goes according to plan.