Fridge pages are Spoilers Off by default, so all spoilers were removed. Proceed with caution. You Have Been Warned.
open/close all folders
Fridge Brilliance
- Both in and out of kayfabe for Rhodes' retool into a psychotic heel. He spent the first part of his WWE career in a stable led by arguably one of the best psychotic heels on the roster. He has already shown himself to have charisma (arguably more than Orton), and probably picked up a few tips on how to play that sort of part well - to say nothing of him being a second-generation Superstar. In kayfabe, Orton's character should have been more of a loner, and his relationship with Rhodes likely wouldn't have worked if Rhodes didn't have this side to him to begin with. Makes even more sense in the wrestling style of DiBiase and Rhodes during Legacy.
- Regarding the specific self-perception that he lost all his Informed Attractiveness when he got his nose broken by Rey Mysterio, which is what caused his character to go insane at the time. Perhaps the fact that he had to get reconstructive surgery meant to him that his face was no longer pure, which to him made it ugly and garbage as a result. Think of a mix of Death the Kid, Patrick Bateman, and Mankind. He's even hinted at this in an interview about the neo-classic Intercontinental title belt where he was called out on his obsession with appearances, saying that people are hideous inside and out and that he himself was "untarnished" until he was "mauled" and lost "the one thing [he] had over everyone else."
- When Cody assaulted Damien Sandow near-immediately for pulling a competitive double-cross in the every-man-for-himself Money in the Bank ladder match, a lot of people thought there was no way he should be taking it that hard. Then he revealed that he actually didn't, but it caused him to look at Sandow objectively and thus what really got to him was seeing Sandow for the ego-maniacal prick he really is. Looking back at the difference between the aftermath of that incident and various other similar ones really highlights what Cody was talking about. Rey Mysterio wasn't exactly happy about the fact that neither he nor his best friend Batista won the world title four-way at Bragging Rights 2010 before Batista turned on him viciously for having broken up a possible pinfall. When TNA's Frankie Kazarian pinned his best friend Christopher Daniels in a tag match where they were on opposite sides just days before MITB'13, Kaz did celebrate winning, but quickly hashed it out with Daniels to where they were back on the same page within a minute. Sandow merely looked down at Rhodes with this pompous grin on his face and didn't even really speak to him at all. It screamed You Have Outlived Your Usefulness.
Fridge Logic
- The commentators and wrestlers made a lot of noise about "Dashing" Cody shaving his legs...but...doesn't every single other male wrestler in WWE have shaved legs?
- At Night 2 of WrestleMania XL, Cody Rhodes finally won the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship by defeating Roman Reigns. Including family members of his family, several Superstars celebrated his win in the ring: Kevin Owens; Sami Zayn; Randy Orton; LA Knight; CM Punk; Bruce Prichard; Triple H; Jey Uso; Seth Rollins; and John Cena. Those stars - save for Punk, Prichard, and Triple H - have battled Reigns’ and his Bloodline faction in the recent years, and Jey, Rollins, and Cena had arrived to help. Also, Rhodes has been friends with Orton and Punk for a long time.
- While he didn’t stick around to celebrate, The Undertaker assisted Rhodes during the match. Perhaps he was avenging his loss to Reigns at WrestleMania 33, or he was simply there to do what’s right.
