Eric Bischoff Calls for Cody Rhodes Heel Turn Says WWE Has “Flat-Lined”

Eric Bischoff believes WWE needs a creative shake-up and has suggested that turning Cody Rhodes heel could be the move that refreshes the product.

Speaking on his 83 Weeks podcast, Bischoff discussed WWE’s current direction heading into Rhodes’ Undisputed WWE Championship defense against Gunther at Clash in Italy on May 31 in Turin.

“I’d turn Cody heel. Cody probably has no interest in it. I don’t know if he does or doesn’t, but I need to hit the refresh button here. It’s great and all, but it’s been great and all for a long time. I need something that’s a little different in order to engage, not that it’s not good, it’s great.”

Bischoff made it clear that while WWE is performing well from a business standpoint, he feels the on-screen product has become stagnant.

“It’s great business-wise, maybe there’s no reason to make any changes, and it’s all about the business. It dictates what you do, but if the business is not what it once was, and there’s an opportunity to light a new fire under it and create new business, I’d be all about it, especially right now. WWE has kind of reached a flat line. I said it, that doesn’t mean it’s dead, that just means it’s kind of cruising along, just doing the same old stuff every week. That’s not good TV. Good TV grows.”

He also pointed to the current time of year as a key opportunity for WWE to build momentum before the summer.

“For certain times of year, it’s a little harder. It’s harder this time of year for a lot of reasons. It’s harder in the fall when football kicks in. But there’s a period between the end of the football regular season into the playoffs, and about now when the NBA playoffs get hot. So you got a window there in a couple of months, you can really heat things up, so that you could go into the summer with the audience engaged as best you can.”

Bischoff added that he would like to see a change specifically in Rhodes’ character presentation.

“I’d love to see a different character out of Cody.”

In addition, Bischoff briefly commented on the Tribal Combat match between Roman Reigns and Jacob Fatu, suggesting that WWE should be careful in how Reigns is handled.

“From a distant perspective, on the outside looking in, I think my instinct would be to protect Roman. This might not be the best opportunity or the right time.”

Rhodes has previously addressed the idea of turning heel, noting that he is not opposed to it but does not believe the timing is right.