The Story of Cody Rhodes in WWE ... So Far 

The reason he became Dashing Cody Rhodes is because there was an internal poll of the Divas on who was the best looking wrestler and Cody won. They talked about it on TV. Whether that was a work or shoot poll, it was used to inflate his ego and become obsessed with his looks. And then after the "injury " and with body dysmorphia, the point is that *he* doesn't think he looks the same or that he thinks there is a disfigurement. Dashing and Undashing Cody Rhodes were some of the most fun, unique moments of his career and showed his real potential.

Fun fact, when Cody had the match with Randy that got him ‘fired’, they showed a tweet from Cody on screen where he said he was going ‘All IN’. WWE tried using that as a catchphrase for a brief week or two in the 2010’s.

It’s just absolutely incredible how far Cody has come in his career. From his humble beginnings to leaving WWE, going on an indie tour and co-founding AEW, to coming back WWE and being a megastar. To quote MJF, it’s a Roller-Codester.

Cody taking a page from big brother Dustin by not letting bad gimmicks kill his career.

12:04 All SmackDown vs Raw 2011 players RISE UP!

So nice of Legacy to put over young, up and coming talent like DX

You kind of just always knew Cody was gonna be a star from the get go, but I think his story really starts when they did "Fire him before his wedding " storyline worked as part the Authority storyline as a whole. Since then his ability to never give up on himself and take what is his has been generally inspiring

Dusty Rhodes, in my opinion, could've made for a really cool heel in his retired years. I know it goes against what he traditionally did as a character, but that line before Cena gets jumped is so badass. "There's nothing a father wouldn't do for his son. John, I'm sorry, buddy." sounded so cold coming from Dusty, because he absolutely meant it.

Undashing was him doing Dr. Doom, right down to him not actually being scarred. Jack Kirby always said he imagined Doom as only having one small scratch, and that being enough to make him think he was hideous due to his narcissism, and Cody is a big enough nerd to know that.

SOMETHING SOMETHING CODY RHODES‼️

Most underrated part of Cody Rhodes’ journey was him being a recurring character on the JBL and Cole Show on RU-vid. Some genuinely great comedy from him and Wade Barrett there

His Ziggy Stardust tribute on Raw after David Bowie’s death was nice ♥️

“For their whoas” I see what you did. Ngl, I was a fan of Stardust. He was goofy, out of the box, had a good move set. Also the Mr. Sinister vibes were a plus.

I got a pop out of the Big Show impression last week, I nearly spat out my drink seeing it again this week!

Fun fact: 2009 DX was what got me into wrestling. I enjoyed the goofy antics as a middle schooler, and didn’t know any of the history, and it led to Shawn’s farewell tour that hooked me like a fish on a rod. So, for all the crap that era gets, can’t say it didn’t make new long term fans.

🎶WHOOOAAA-OOOOH! YOU’RE ONLY SMOKE AND MIRRORS! WHOOOAAA-OOOOH! YOU’RE ONLY SMOKE AND MIRRORS TO ME!🎶

"Shane couldn't connect with a punch of it called him on the phone." 🤣 🤣 Oh that's a great line

“After dropping the tag titles to The New Age Outlaws at the Royal Rumble *GOD* there’s a thing I forgot happened in 2014!” 😂😂😂😂😂😂

"WHAAAAOOOOO! YOU'RE ONLY SMOKE AND MIRRORS!"

Always down for more Phantom references

21:59 Sadly, no crossover with The Funky Phantom featuring The Undertaker

The fact that Brian kept laughing at Big Show's WrestleMania record 🤣🤣🤣 Don't do Big Show that way 🤣🤣🤣

ANOTHER great video! Glad you were able to wrap up the Rhodes Family Troika in WWF (for now)

I remember the DX vs Legacy Feud at Summerslam 2009

There was a very good explanation for why Cody became conscious of his own good looks. There was a segment on smackdown where it was revealed that there was a backstage poll where all the Divas were asked who the most handsome superstar was, and Cody was voted as number one. I remember that segment because Cody repeated the word "dashing" about 90 times.

Looking back at Dashing Cody Rhodes I wish they went more unhinged with the character and turned him into Dennis from It's Always Sunny

God. Who remembers when Ted was the highly rated one of Legacy, only for it to be Cody.

iirc, when Rhodes and Dibiase (Jr.) were a tag team they were called Priceless but when it was them and Orton they were Legacy. And the whole mask stuff was his version of Marvel's Doctor Doom as Cody is a comic book fan. It mirrored Victor Von Doom's story of being so arrogant that he thought a minor blemish on his face had made him too ugly to look at.

Stardust looked like a big can of Rockstar Energy Drink. Idk I still kinda liked it for some reason.

Hey Brian can't wait to see you at 3LW in PA this Saturday

woah woah! I LOVE SIM SNUKA! In fact, the only reason I watched SmackDown in the mid 2000s was for Deuce and Domino

14:50 I knew it was coming at some point!

A Kinky Boots reference in a wrestling wretrospective? Sir, you have my respect

15:20 sometimes I forget Cody introduced the Classic White Strap IC

I was a lapsed WWE fan between the end of the Attitude era and 2016. I really like these videos as they show me in detail what I missed.

Congratulations on 370k subscribers love your videos

We need a full vid of wwe long winter

Well Mr. Zane, this was absolutely incredible. This was a top notch comprehensive retrospective that is very well edited and put together!

In terms of why Cody became dashing (11:46), to clarify: there was an internal WWE women's wrestling poll (kayfabe) that named Cody most handsome. That was literally the start of the "Dashing" gimmick.

I'm scrubbing back repeatedly on the Wrestlemania X8 bit that I remember seeing live, forgetting how hilarious it was, then Zane laughing and mocking it. Pure Gold. 16:24 "Wrestlemania baby wooooo!" "Woooooo..."

No way dashing Cody's music was played first lol I popped for that🤣

I 100% agree Stardust was a great character and was always entertaining.

22:29 Correction, Stardust and Goldust were already a heel team by the time Stardust turned on Goldust

Getting a jacklinks ad on this was perfect

That Stardust backstage promo has always been my favorite one from him and it's a shame most people don't know it exists

Not sure if Cody himself was behind it, or if it was WWE but to stretch Cody's story another year in hindsight makes a lot of sense and perhaps they had a little foresight. If Cody had defeated Roman last year at Mania, it would have been seen as shoehorned and forced since he came back from injury and won the Rumble at nunber 30, the makes of a cookie cutter mania fued. Also the fan favorite at the time was Sami Zayn, though he ended up getting a good story in his own right with defeating the Usos alongside Kevin Owen's for the Tag Title, which I feel did help elevate that championship. If WWE doesn't pull the trigger and have him win this time......wtf are they actually doing?!

Thanks for this, Brian. There was a decade plus gap where I wasn't into wrestling at all. I missed the whole of Cody's first run and only started following him during AEW. Very informative!

Love these deep dive videos you do love them also would love another promotion review love your work as always Brian

Me linking the whoa’s in all the themes 🤯

Cody Rhodes finally Finished The Story

3:58 KINKY BOOTS!!!!!!!

Stardust as a character had potential! He was like Goldust but instead of being obsessed with movies he was obsessed with comic books. It just wasn’t a gimmick fitting for someone with untapped main event potential

I'm with you. I loved Stardust. I think that they could have done a lot more with it. There were so many directions they could have gone with it, but it doesn't seem like WWE ever fully committed to the character.

I am probably the lone wrestling fan ever who liked the “Smoke and Mirrors” theme and the *DASHING* gimmick

Night of Champions 2008 was my families first ever show. I was 9 years old and just got into wrestling, and I'm still here now at 25.

He did it….he finished the story….

Thank you Brian, a really good topic, and a well made video!

Yooooooo! Haha Brian sayin deadass?! Love to see it my guy haha

Great video. His time in NJPW as the leader of the Bullet Club was definitely a high point and his strained friendship with the Young Bucks.

I was a fan of Cody's since Legacy, it is wild how far he has come in his career!

I wonder how many caught youur Mr. Sinister reference???😅

Nice just rewatched the vid on Cody and aew so good timing!

13:15 This is by design, and one of his characters that I enjoyed. His dysmorphia was reminiscent of Calendar Girl in The New Batman Adventures

Last 5 mins of this video gave me chills. Cody is a huge inspiration to me. Sure wrestling is fiction but his story is very real and I relate with it so much. I've always felt undesirable but Cody has inspired me to bet on myself and I'm in my grind phase of becoming undeniable. C'mon Cody... FINISH THAT STORY!!!

I could’ve sworn the reason he debut the dashing gimmick was cause a diva leaked a pole or that wwe made a pole that was made about who the divas thought was the most handsome male wrestler on the roster and it was Cody so he took that to level 10.

In October 2021, I sat front row at AEW Dynamite to watch Cody beat Malakai Black in a bloody war and I boo'd that man louder than I've ever boo'd anyone (as did the rest of Orlando). I never thought in a million years I'd watch him become one of my favorite wrestlers less than a year later. There's something about what he did going back to WWE that was so impossibly transformative and I'm very happy he's a pivotal part in bringing the King's Sport to its next (and current) amazing era. Everyone has benefited. Pro wrestling is in such an amazing place across the globe and Cody has played such a huge role in making it so. Great work as always, Brian.

i cant wait for mania

26:20 DWL’s Jack Spade!

I'm still so so so thankful for his AEW match with Dustin.

I didn't expect to cry on this video. I've seen all from Cody's debut and I was there for his first and second WM matches (Same for the Usos) I was keeping a lookout and followed Cody's adventures away from WWE and return 😢. I hope I don't get too emotional watching live WM40. Smoke and Mirrors will always be my favorite Cody Theme.

Cody is a one of a kind superstar. His decision to leave WWE in 2016 did wonders for him. People stopped saying "Look at the son of Dusty! He's not going to main event WrestleMania!" to "Hold on, this guy actually really good!" I'm hoping that he finally wins the big one at WrestleMania!

One more thought. I feel like you could show anyone this video here Brian and even if they had not watched wrestling before, they would understand it and get all the story beats from it. Top, top video.

A missed moment that was great during the Damian feud was when Cody threw Damian's briefcase to the sea and Damian swam for it. Needless to say I was very sports entertained that segment

That Mania 29 tag match not only had 2 future NWA champions it had two future WWE Hall of Famers if you had to guess which 4 you’d definitely never get that trivia question correct

Now I kind of want to see a vidoe detailing Cody’s independent run between WWE and AEW, I feel like there’s a good amount of material in it for one.

I remember me, MK Knight and Oni Rokaku poked fun of Cody's mustache at that time. If my editing skills were a bit better, I would've done a video where I mix in the Magnum P.I. theme to Cody's Titantron video; we were calling him that for weeks! Another thing MJ also did during RawDown Rebound was poke fun of Cody's "Undashing" gimmick by referring to him as the "Bland Phantom of the Opera". Man, I miss those days. Hard to believe that Cody has accomplished a whole lot more now.

I would love to see a video on Aaron Stevens run as Damien Sandow.

I think that Cody is an example of timing is everything & sometimes you just have to bet on yourself. I try to think of where Cody would be now if he never left and just stayed where he was. Not blaming WWE, creative, Vince, HHH or even Cody. He plateued on where he could be there at that point and he needed to go to grow into the main event he felt he could be and had become. Sometimes you just have to bet on yourself to hit the jackpot.

11:55 Cody was actually voted as the Most Handsome Superstar on the roster by the Divas during that time, which I believe started the gimmick. Honest to god, I can't believe I remember that, but yeah, that's crazy to think about.

My favorite was "Undashing" Cody Rhodes that was pretty good!

Would love to see one of Cody in the indies between WWE and AEW

I was pleasantly surprised by the Kinky Boots reference 😭💙

Speaking of Cody and Husky Harris, I'd love to see a "Bray Wyatt in WWE" video

That kinky boots reference fucking caught me off guard!😂

Love that Kinky Boots musical reference, just goes to show that wrestling fans tend to be theatre kids 😂

It's strange to think that in 2008 people were talking about Ted DiBiase being the breakout star of the group with the higher ceiling and Cody being the Marty Jannetty of the pair, and now 14 years later, Cody is in the main event of mania, and Ted's potentially going to prison.

Stardust's feud with Stephen Amell is what got me into wrestling. Went from "I'll check out Raw and then the Summerslam PPV and call it quits" to watching every PPV since.

I enjoyed Cody’s Dashing/Undashing gimmick as it reminded me Christian Bale in American Psycho with the unhinged vanity.

At GAB 2007 right before Randy's match with Dusty, Randy cuts a promo and says "Did you know that today is Shawn Michaels' birthday?" and I just love that line. I would say it to my friends all the time.

I really liked Stardust too! I think the Cosmic Wasteland (or Cosmic Kingdom) had some potential and actually think it would have gotten over better in NXT. But also having seen where Cody went to *because* of that gimmick, I'm glad it didn't get over.

I remember watching the Legacy VS DX I Quit Match on the wrestling Falls Count Anywhere Match collection And I was mega impressed that Cody and Dibiase actually won

That stardust character will never fail to make me laugh

Cody in trunks with no knee pads looks so awkward 😂 Idk how to explain it

Great as always BZ

The F.O.M reference was great!😂😂😂😂

Excellent overview - Great video!

I love this series. Great video

As much as people hate the gimmick, the Stardust entrance theme slaps

You should do a massive Big Show in WWE video 😀 That would be your Apocalypse Now 🤪

I also thought the Stardust character had serious potential that as usual WWE not only squandered but obviously had no idea what to do with. I'm glad Cody is where he is now in WWE. He worked his ASS off for so long, to finally get the recognition he deserved. I just wish Dusty could have lived to see it. At least Dustin can see it, and you know he's happy for him and holy shit if Dustin shows up for Wrestlmania in ANY capacity - just wow. Good on Tony Khan for letting him, and good on WWE for allowing it. I know it's just a rumor that Dustin might get involved during WM, but man if he does, IF he does - the place might just become unglued. Dustin returning to WWE even for one night alone might cause the roof to blow off the place, so imagine if he helps Cody win? I know a lot of people are now expecting either the Rock to betray Roman and cost him the title, or the Rock to help Cody win the title straight up (and betray Roman still lol but as a face again) but Rock is on absolute FIRE as a heel right now. It'd honestly be really stupid for that one to happen. Either way, this was a fun walk down memory lane Wrestling with Wregret man and thanks for including so much Stardust as the character is one of my favorites of the last 15 years or so easily.