Cody Rhodes returned to the ring at AEW Dynamite Grand Slam, losing to Malakai Black for the second time.
Rhodes was greeted by "boos" from the crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium, a sentiment that was not there months ago.
Speaking on Busted Open Radio, Arn Anderson weighed in the crowd booing Cody.
"Wrestling fans are awesome. The reason I love them so much is they are so honest. When you're great, most of the time, they'll tell you. When you suck, they'll let you know. I can see it and hear it. There are rumblings, not about Cody being the flagship or the face of the company because he carries that badge and I agree that he should because he can get the word out about our product and he does a great job. The fact is, without being one of, if not the best wrestler in the company, how many people are going to actually listen to him? Hollywood is a grand thing if that's all you're doing is Hollywood. Right now, he needs to concentrate on getting his wins and losses turned around and earn the fact that when he opens his mouth, people listen. Right now, I'm not too sure. Hollywood is a positive thing in a lot of case, I'm not sure if it works for Cody in this situation," he said, seemingly speaking from an in-character perspective.
Anderson expanded on his thoughts by saying, "I don't pretend to be a mind reader, but I'm trying to get in the head of a wrestling fan. The most talented guy and the number one guy in Hollywood right now is The Rock, no disputing that. John Cena was a guy who always said he was dedicating 100% of his time to the fans, to the company, to the business. When he started doing movies and was no longer with WWE, I think fans possibly, I'm not putting words in their mouth, may have felt betrayed that they got their support behind these guys and when they got red hot, they took off to Hollywood. I don't think that's the case, they earned everything they got and they deserve a chance to pursue other things. That may be, 'Cody is going to get red hot, do all these shows, and he's not going to be around anymore.' I think they might feel a little bit, I don't want to say betrayed but slighted a little bit."
Anderson was in Cody's corner on Wednesday and was accidentally knocked off the apron by Cody. Anderson wasn't happy that Cody checked on him, instead wanting Cody to keep his focus on Malakai.
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