Although Cody Rhodes is a babyface in AEW, he has been getting more boos from fans over the last year than normal.
AEW President Tony Khan was asked about this while speaking on Wrestling Observer Live and compared it to the same reaction that John Cena received while in WWE.
“It’s been a long time since it was the opposite of the intended reaction. I’ve known what the reaction is for a long time, and I think it’s very polarizing.
“It’s not all one side. I think it’s a mix of the crowd, and it’s very similar to John (Cena) in terms of how you hear a split, and there’s a ton of women and kids that are huge fans and some of the guys booing, but people are still really buying Cody. And in the right moments, they do cheer him. And we saw that when he saved PAC from Malakai and Andrade.
“There was a huge Cody chant, and in that context, people were really excited to see him, and the truth is I do really think the people really like Cody. When John Cena was a full-time wrestler, he’s one of the all time great wrestling stars and people really liked to see him too.
“Of course, that reaction, in time, became more generally positive, but still, obviously, people only have grown to care more and more about John Cena. So I do think people are very emotionally invested in Cody one way or another, which is a very good thing.”
H/T to WrestlingInc for the transcript
