(Photo by Sportskeeda.com)
When you think of wrestling families throughout history, names like the Funks, Briscoes, Hardys or even the McMahons come to mind. One that doesn't get the credit in conversations is the Rhodes family. The patriarch of this ensemble is Dusty Rhodes. Throughout decades upon decades, Dusty put his fingerprints within the territories of professional wrestling. Whether he was in the ring or behind the scenes, the American Dream did his best to put on a good show for the bunches of fans who paid their hard earned money to see what great professional wrestling is.
In the early 90's, his son, Dustin, would make his in-ring debut and become a major player in the industry. However, while with WCW, Dustin was handcuffed when it came to bringing charisma into his persona as a performer. It wasn't until WWF came calling when Dustin could develop in-ring charisma and in-ring prowess. They ended up creating one of the most iconic characters in wrestling history in Goldust. Dustin made Goldust a performer who was out-of-the-box and pushed the envelope. This will probably put him in the WWE Hall of Fame alongside his father.
While it was Dusty and Dustin who gave the way for a foundation, the youngest son was going to continue building on it.
Right off the bat, Cody Rhodes was a blue-chip prospect who had the tutelage of some of wrestling brightest minds. From Randy Orton to Ricky Morton and of course, Dusty, Cody was prepped for greatness. He also had more athleticism than his father and brother, which gave him an advantage for the new era of professional wrestling. His professional career started at OVW and he was paired with a prospect who would be a friend to him going forward, Shawn Spears. Winning multiple championships while there put Cody in the driver's seat to a fruitful career in WWE. He was a surprise partner of Hardcore Holly and won the Tag Team Championship on his first night with the company. During this reign, Holly was replaced by another second-generation wrestler in Ted DiBiase Jr., son of the Million Dollar Man. Orton would join the two and form a stable called Legacy. In my opinion, Legacy was an underrated group and could have been more recognized than Evolution. The three would break up and it resulted in a triple threat match at WrestleMania 26, with Orton getting the victory.
After the implosion of Legacy, Cody would branch out with a character known as "Dashing" Cody Rhodes. This was a ray of light for him as we figured that this would propel him into superstar status. Then, Rey Mysterio inadvertently kick Rhodes to the face, causing a "facial issue." This changed the Dashing character into a deranged one who wore a facemask and put paper bags on his opponents or even fans. I liked this gimmick since it showed that Cody had range. He had a memorable Intercontinental title run where he reverted back to the old IC title design, which was proudly worn by the likes of the Honky Tonk Man and Ravishing Rick Rude.
As you can see, Cody Rhodes was flourishing in the mid-card, but wasn't able to break through as a main event superstar.
In 2014, the Authority storyline was dominating WWE and Rhodes was put in a good situation as he and his brother, who was back to his Goldust character, would become adversaries to the Shield. Funny, all three members would become a stepping stone in Rhodes' career. In the storyline, Dusty was involved also. During a segment, Stephanie berated him and he put his hand out to tell her to stop talking. This drew backstage heat from the powers-that-be. It would be one of Dusty's last nationwide appearances on television as the next year, 2015, Dusty Rhodes passed away at the age of 69.
By many accounts, Cody has stated that this was his dark period. His father just died and he was in a character that he loathed, Stardust. It was a knock-off to his older brother's Goldust persona. He had the facepaint, the maniacal laugh, and cartwheels. It wasn't what Cody wanted. They were put in a feud that had many wrestling fans thinking of a classic between two brothers, fighting for the Rhodes family name. The match was set.......for Fastlane, not WrestleMania. The match wasn't great as Dustin scored the victory on a roll-up. That's right, a freaking roll-up. If there was a positive, Dusty got to see his two sons battle each other before his untimely death. Getting more frustrated, Cody asked for his release and in 2016, he was "future endeavored" by WWE.
Feeling like WWE let him down, Cody Rhodes would venture through the Indie scene to reinvent himself. He traveled through many promotions as New Japan, ROH, NWA and even Impact! to put his name out there as a hot commodity. Unfortunately, he had to do it without the Rhodes' name as WWE had it copyrighted. Cody dyed his hair blonde, got himself a nifty neck tattoo, and became "The American Nightmare." During his Indie run, he would win the ROH and NWA World Heavyweight Championships. His tour was successful as was Drew McIntyre's and Matt Cardona's current run. Homeboy even joined the Bullet Club, back when they were cool.
Cody Rhodes was becoming a name that was stimulus to the wrestling industry. But what he would do next will change it forever.
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