Cody Takes Shot at Bayley During Starrcast Panel, Responds to Criticism

– Cody got a little bit of criticism after he took a shot at Bayley during his and the Young Bucks’ Starrcast panel last night. You can see video below of Cody discussing Kylie Rae, during which he says Rae is a “ball of emotion” and saying she’s what AEW wants, before saying “She’s not wacky inflatable tube-men, pretending to be nice.”

.@CodyRhodes praises @IamKylieRae (and later @RealBrittBaker) but then seems to take a weird, unnecessary shot at Bayley? pic.twitter.com/QT7r9pLEEx

— John Ledesma (@JohnnyNBA) May 24, 2019

After the video made the rounds online, Cody began to get heat for what many considered to be an unnecessary shot at at the Smackdown Women’s champion, who of course has the tube-men appear during her WWE entrances and has an upbeat, friendly persona. Cody later said that he “Meant no harm. She’s awesome.” Rae also posted in response to a fan who said it was “embarrassing” of Cody to take a shot at Bayley, who Rae has called her idol and inspiration:

Made a crack about the wacky inflatable tubeman. Meant no harm. She’s awesome. https://t.co/YrzzxHuPmu

— Cody Rhodes (@CodyRhodes) May 24, 2019

I think what’s hard is that we’ve been instilled for so long to see wrestlers as “gimmicks” rather than genuine human beings.

I genuinely hope to help change this perspective for other fans who want to be themselves and feel comfortable doing it. ❤️ https://t.co/yCasbQS55h

— KYLIE RAE (@IamKylieRae) May 24, 2019