Cody Rhodes hopes he didn’t offend anyone with his viral “Raheem” line from the February 6 episode of WWE SmackDown. However, he also stands by what he said.
On that episode, Rhodes first talked about the growing tension between CM Punk and Roman Reigns ahead of WrestleMania 42. But things shifted when his own issues with Drew McIntyre came back up. McIntyre and Rhodes had a heated confrontation, and the WWE officials had to step in and separate them.
After McIntyre left the ring, Rhodes cut a promo. The former WWE Champion joked that this WrestleMania season had turned into a “measuring contest.” He said it was probably a good thing he wasn’t invited, because he didn’t get the nickname “Raheem” for nothing.
“I heard it was going to be a you-know-what measuring contest. Well, they better be glad I didn’t get the invite, because I didn’t get the nickname Raheem for no reason,” Rhodes said.
Cody Rhodes Explains Intent Behind Viral WWE Promo Line
Speaking later on Under the Hood with J-Hood, Rhodes said he had actually told his wife Brandi already that he might use the joke. He said he felt unsure at first, but she encouraged him to say it because it was funny.
“I had told her that I might say it, and I felt bad because I told her, and then she said, ‘Oh, you have to say it. It’s funny,” Rhodes said.
The WWE star made it clear he wasn’t trying to insult Reigns or Punk. He just wanted to add some humor to an otherwise intense WrestleMania build-up.
“I didn’t want to come at Roman or Punk in an adversarial way. I’m not wrestling either of you. You guys are wrestling each other, and it’s awesome. I feel that those things will come. I wanted to come at it with a little bit of levity because I knew others were going to come at it from a different perspective. And I thought that was funny, but then I felt bad because I don’t ever want anybody to get married to a line. I’m like, ‘Oh, well, if I can’t say that…’ I did my field testing of it, and I hope I didn’t offend anybody with it,” Rhodes added.
However, The American Nightmare stands by the line. He even laughed at some of the online backlash and made it clear he isn’t taking the comment back.
“I very much stood by it. And when you see ‘Manchester United’ in the bio and an anime picture as the avatar complaining about it, I’ve got to ask, what are we really complaining about here? This is more of a positive joke than there could ever be about gifted men,” Rhodes said.
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