Bully Ray believes Cody Rhodes’ latest loss to Randy Orton risks damaging his connection with fans, saying he would have refused to produce the finish.

Orton defeated Rhodes at Sunday Night’s Main Event in Atlanta after pleading with his former protégé not to punt him. Cody hesitated, allowing Orton to land a low blow behind the referee’s back before securing the victory with an RKO.

Speaking on Busted Open, Bully argued that repeatedly falling for the same tricks could leave supporters struggling to get behind Rhodes.

“You know how I always talk about the rule of one. It always starts someplace. The pop dies with one. One less person shows up to the arena. It always starts with one less something,” he said. “I heard it from the caller yesterday, and I’m hearing it a little bit in your voice today. Cody has nobody to blame but himself.”

Bully explained that he would have challenged the proposed ending during discussions with the two wrestlers.

“If I was the producer of that match, if I was sitting in the room with Cody and Randy, and they get to, okay, Bubba, now Randy’s going to be down, Cody’s going to back up, he’s going to go to punt him in the head, but then Randy is going to become a bit of a chicken s*** heel, and he’s going to beg and bleed, and Cody’s not going to do it. But then after Cody doesn’t do it, he’s just going to walk to Randy and get nut shot,” Bully Ray said. “And I’d be like, no, absolutely not. Because my babyface looks like a fool, and this exact scenario has happened in the past, so now you’re giving me a reason to not believe in you, because you have fallen for it one too many times.”

He summed up his frustration with a familiar cartoon comparison.

“He becomes Charlie Brown with Lucy pulling the football away,” he said.

For Bully, the issue extends beyond one result. He believes Cody’s reluctance to retaliate against Orton is becoming a recurring weakness in his presentation.

“There’s just entirely too much respect for Randy Orton right now, and people are starting to wane,” Bully Ray said. “I’m going to go back to when I first started talking about the suit. You may not agree with me, and that’s fine. But I’m telling you, things like that eventually start to come into play. The white meat babyface that Cody is portraying is starting to get a little bit old with people.”

Bully also pointed to Brandi Rhodes’ involvement at ringside. After Orton mocked her, she threw a drink in his face, making Cody’s hesitation even harder for him to understand.

“You want to wear that suit, you want to use four-syllable words, go right ahead. But when you have the opportunity to kick Randy Orton in the head and make things right after he talked about your mother and your wife, and your wife had the balls to throw a beer in his face, but you didn’t have the balls to kick him in it, there’s something wrong,” Bully Ray said.

He explained that his biggest concern is the possibility of fans losing their emotional connection with Cody.

“I can’t identify with this guy anymore. As a wrestler, that’s one of the worst things I could hear a fan say,” he said. “You’re telling me that you’re no longer into what I do because of another bad decision I made in a ring. I’m losing your fandom.”

Bully has previously questioned whether Rhodes’ suited, corporate presentation has taken him too far away from the character fans originally embraced, although he acknowledges that others see it differently.

Despite his criticism, he remains open to the storyline proving him wrong. Bully said he hopes the finish eventually makes sense as a turning point in Cody’s story and invited listeners to explain anything he might have missed.