Cody Rhodes’ departure from WWE was a pivotal moment in his wrestling career. As the grandson of a plumber, Cody always had a dream of making a name for himself in the pro wrestling world. However, his time in WWE as Stardust was not what he had hoped for. Cody found himself at a rock bottom moment when a fan didn’t even recognize him as Cody Rhodes, but only knew him as Stardust. Rhodes spoke about this to Ariel Helwani on BT Sport.
This interaction made Cody realize that his intergalactic gimmick had overshadowed his previous accomplishments in WWE, including winning the Intercontinental title and tag titles with his former group, Legacy. This realization prompted Cody to leave WWE and pursue his dreams of becoming a bigger name in the wrestling industry.
After leaving WWE, Cody became an EVP for AEW, a rising wrestling company that allowed him to have more creative control over his character and storylines. However, Cody eventually made his return to WWE, this time in a much better position to fight for the creative presentation he needed.
“There was a lot of rock bottom [playing Stardust]. Charlotte Flair brought a fan to a show. She told him, ‘Hey, do you wanna meet Stardust?’ and I was just not painted up or anything there earlier in the day in like my sweats. And he came up to me, he’s like, ‘You’re Stardust?’
I was like, ‘Yeah, yeah, and I used to wrestle as Cody Rhodes.’ And he was like, ‘What? Who? What do you mean?’ He had no idea that I’d won the Intercontinental title or won some tag titles or Legacy. Nothing. Stardust was his only knowledge of me, and that was a rock bottom moment.”
Cody’s return to WWE saw him shoot straight to the main event level, competing against top stars such as Roman Reigns. Despite his loss to Reigns at WrestleMania 39, Cody’s quest to finish his story is far from over. He continues to strive towards his dream of making a name for himself in the wrestling world, all while proving that he is much more than just a painted, hissing Superstar.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQSSHlUUnhE
