Eric Bischoff Compares Cody Rhodes To This Former WWE Champion

Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes might still be early on in his reign but he's already being compared to many of the greats who came before him, like Ric Flair. In a recent episode of "Wise Choices," Eric Bischoff followed suit and gave his take on how Rhodes measures up to champions of the past.

"I noticed a couple of weeks ago, Cody Rhodes is as close to that traditional ultra babyface character that we have seen in a long time, probably since John Cena," Bischoff gushed. "And maybe, in some ways even more so than John Cena."

Bischoff believes that Rhodes hews closer to his onscreen character than Cena initially did, noting Cena had to overcome a cartoonish gimmick before he entered WWE's upper echelon. 

"John Cena, obviously, through various times of his career of course he was like the – had that rapper kinda gimmick going on, and it was good, and it worked, and it was timely, but that didn't really feel like the real John Cena," Bischoff said. Cena overcame the rapper gimmick but even as a pure babyface, fans notoriously turned their backs on Cena later in his career, and according to Bischoff, since Rhodes shares a similar risk. 

"I think when you have that pure as the driven snow babyface that Cody is representing now, there is a chance that some people will tire of it," Bischoff explained, "and that character will need to get an edge."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Wise Choices" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.