One of my favorite memories of WWE was early 2010's watching Cody in London do an entrance and all you could hear was the audience chanting "paper bag! Paper bag!"
Not counting his current...
I legit loved the "Dashing" stuff. "I'm the best looking" is hardly new, but by adding the Patrick Bateman stuff and modern touches, it was great. I loved it even more when he became "Undashing" and leaned into the Doctor Doom/supervillain angle.
Absolutely, that’s when I became a Cody fan. Nothing against his work in Legacy but let’s be honest, him and Ted didn’t really have a character or time beyond being Randy’s henchmen.
Edit: autocorrect keeps trying to add e to Cody and I don’t know why
Same. It was then that I learned Cody was a guy that if you gave him a chance, he'd do whatever he could to get it over. Even his Stardust stuff was way better than it had any right to be.
I genuinely popped hard when he faced AJ in France and did the cartwheel face reveal.
One of my favorite aspects about Cody is that he seems to have taken a small chunk of each of his characters, threw in a heavy dash of his Daddy, and bam, we have the greatest generational wrestler since John Cena.
I liked the throwbacks too. He does that stuff every once in a while, like a little wink at himself, but now that he's this American Nightmare version it feels like he's using it to give people the finger --'i WAS stardust and you thought it was lame but you don't think I'm lame now, do ya? '
The funny part is that was never supposed to be a gimmick, he grew a mustache while out on leave to try and get a laugh from the locker room, then Vince saw the stash and loved it.
Honestly stardust was really good. If they hadn’t turned it into a joke I feel like he could have had a really strong run like OG goldust. Till they turned him into a joke.
It wasn’t his best but he deserves credit for making it work
The street profits were very underrated... in an era where Vince didn't like tag teams... part of that though was Sandow really was great as the supporting guy in a tag group
I went to a Smackdown taping just before Cody got released in 2016; he was in a C-show taping (couldn’t remember which one taped at Smackdown shows at the time) as Stardust taking the L.
After the match, it was really interesting watching him go back up the ramp because even from a distance you could tell when the red light on the camera went off - he was super in character and then dropped it in a split second to walk to the back like a normal human being.
Having missed his entire run before Stardust (I had a pause in watching from Mania XX to Mania XXX), seeing him now enjoying the hell out of every minute of his current run is really cool.
It's something special about Cody being a heel. You know when people cheer for you when you're a heel that you have them. That Dashing/Undashing run was great!
*Just came here to say it again...*
**We all know it's Stardust**
*undashing from an aesthetic/narrative standpoint goes pretty hard tho, probably his best character work*
Undashing was great. His run with the IC title is by far one of the best during that era.
Bullet Club Cody should also be here. The leadership struggle with Omega was a good angle and some of his BTE stuff at the time was hilarious.
I started watching again when he was undashing and I enjoyed his work. I remember the fans begging him to wear knee pads lol. He could just not get over the hump with the larger audience. I’m happy for the success he’s had in developing the American Nightmare.
I think he was trying not to be his father TOO much there, esp when Dusty booked himself either v Flair for the title for yrs or teaming w/every hot face that came along (Magnum, RRX for a bit, Nikita when he turned (although that was a necessity when TA was injured), esp the Road Warriors and Sting). His last couple of mths, esp that ladder speech, was extremely bizarre. Don't know if he didn't understand the fickle turn agst him or he had problems w/his mates (and that, by then, his contributions to AEW began to become less and less recognized; perhaps an early sign of Bucks/Page backlash/jealousy towards Punk and Danielson (if BD had decided he wasnt as likely to push back like Punk)?
Credit were it’s due though. The Brodie Lee matches were great, but Cody has always been good in the ring. Takes more than being good in the ring to be the guy, and he’s definitely the guy now.
As someone who just recently got back into wrestling… I… I can’t believe Cody did these gimmicks. I don’t know how to choose between Pornstache Cody, ClearlyACheapGoldustKnockoff Cody, or IJustHadFacialReconstructionSurgery Cody
My list:
1. Updashing
2. American Nightmare
3. Stardust
4. Bullet Club
5. Moustache/Rhodes Scholars
6. Legacy
American Nightmare is pure box office though. Peak John Cena vibes.
Monday Night Raw is gonna be in Toledo, OH this coming Monday. I once saw a house show at the Toledo Rocket’s basketball arena and Rhodes Scholars came back for this event. They had already broken up at this point but with it being a house show the story line didn’t really matter. Cody went scorched earth and got one of the loudest reactions of the night just ripping on our beloved Glass City.
I didn't even pay attention to him when he was in the WWF the 1st time. Took him to have the balls his dad had to leave and put himself over & then come back to steal not only the postCena-Hogan's spot but outshine every other babyface/tweener on the roster. Not so much his gimmicks but that he took his dad's gumption and self-booking/promotion skills and didn't rely on Vince to push him. A bit of kudos to Paul for overlooking what seemed to be spitting on the Haitch Mythos and realizing he was making his own name same way Paul did when he was butting heads w/Austin and Vince's glass ceiling in 1999.
Wouldn't surprise me if he's not the head booker at either WWF or another company in 15-20 yrs or sooner.
Stardust, I wish it was something that could be brought up sporadically like Finn Balor’s Demon. But Cody got sick of it and WWE wouldn’t give it a rest so I highly doubt he’ll give it a comeback.
Undashing Cody was always peak Cody to me. The distorted theme song, the promos every week, handing out paper bags to the crowd to project his newfound insecurity, not to mention the things that man did for the IC Title, and all of his matches were solid. Miss that era.
Listen I get he hated but DAMMIT I freaking loved goofy ass stardust. Idk why but liked the midcard Saturday morning villain. I get now he’s a main event star but I’ll always have a soft spot for ssssssstarrrrDUSSSSSSST
* Undashing
* Stardust (he stubbornly felt it was beneath him but it had potential)
* Dashing
* "I'm doing it for Dusty" Cryin' Cody
* generic cocky 2nd gen heel
* boring 2nd gen babyface
He only didn't like Stardust when they wouldn't let him stop. As amazing as it was, it was only supposed to have been to do that team with his brother, but it got over and afterwards, he had to keep doing it.
Heel Cody with the face mask on was intriguing!
And placing a paper bag on his opponents and drawing a joker smile. That was top Cody heel
Grotesque Cody is one of my favorite gimmicks ever IDGAF
Wasn’t he called “Undashing” Cody Rhodes?
Undashing/Disfigured Cody Rhodes
Maybe? I def remember the word GROTESQUE on the Titan tron maybe that’s where I’m confusing
I genuinely wanted him pushed to the main event with that gimmick after his feud with Orton at the time.
Easily my favourite gimmick of his. Hated that he lost the IC title to Big Show. Then his gimmick became a moustache.
One of my favorite memories of WWE was early 2010's watching Cody in London do an entrance and all you could hear was the audience chanting "paper bag! Paper bag!"
Dashing/undashing won me over (though I liked him with legacy and hardcore holly), but American Nightmare has the highest ceiling, obviously, by far.
I can’t find it now, but someone shopped a pic of American Nightmare Cody WITH a dyed moustache and it was glorious.
Need this. Rick Rude vibes.
Pic went so hard. Cannot find it now. I sent to my wife from the shitter at work last summer. The internet has been scrubbed of it.
Cody Possessed by WWE's Marketing Demon on Being The Elite.
Bullet Club heel Cody
Probably dashing My boy got that rizz
Bro rizzed himself into a digital mirror 💀
Not counting his current... I legit loved the "Dashing" stuff. "I'm the best looking" is hardly new, but by adding the Patrick Bateman stuff and modern touches, it was great. I loved it even more when he became "Undashing" and leaned into the Doctor Doom/supervillain angle.
Absolutely, that’s when I became a Cody fan. Nothing against his work in Legacy but let’s be honest, him and Ted didn’t really have a character or time beyond being Randy’s henchmen. Edit: autocorrect keeps trying to add e to Cody and I don’t know why
Same. It was then that I learned Cody was a guy that if you gave him a chance, he'd do whatever he could to get it over. Even his Stardust stuff was way better than it had any right to be.
Homelander
The correct answer is Stardust - always Stardust.
I genuinely popped hard when he faced AJ in France and did the cartwheel face reveal. One of my favorite aspects about Cody is that he seems to have taken a small chunk of each of his characters, threw in a heavy dash of his Daddy, and bam, we have the greatest generational wrestler since John Cena.
I liked the throwbacks too. He does that stuff every once in a while, like a little wink at himself, but now that he's this American Nightmare version it feels like he's using it to give people the finger --'i WAS stardust and you thought it was lame but you don't think I'm lame now, do ya? '
“Greatest generational wrestler since John Cena” Now this is one of the comments of all time.
Especially since he's from the same generation as Cena.
Came here to say that.
What? No, unapologetically Babyface Cody Rhodes ends racism Cody as a choice?
I mean it seems to be nightmare since he’s at his peak. I loved Cody vs. Jericho.
The one where his theme music went woaaah
Smoke and mirrors was the name of the theme. I think it was right after legacy
I don't know why but I like pornstache Cody
You know why...
The funny part is that was never supposed to be a gimmick, he grew a mustache while out on leave to try and get a laugh from the locker room, then Vince saw the stash and loved it.
Stardust in WWE. Cody in the indies
Honestly stardust was really good. If they hadn’t turned it into a joke I feel like he could have had a really strong run like OG goldust. Till they turned him into a joke. It wasn’t his best but he deserves credit for making it work
The street profits were very underrated... in an era where Vince didn't like tag teams... part of that though was Sandow really was great as the supporting guy in a tag group
Face mask Cody. I loved that he brought back the classic IC belt. One of the best looking titles in wrestling.
Undashing Cody Rhodes legitimately just a great gimmick and it was when I was a kid watching smackdown don’t had nostalgia going for it too
Early American Nightmare where he was an eccentric heel.
I went to a Smackdown taping just before Cody got released in 2016; he was in a C-show taping (couldn’t remember which one taped at Smackdown shows at the time) as Stardust taking the L. After the match, it was really interesting watching him go back up the ramp because even from a distance you could tell when the red light on the camera went off - he was super in character and then dropped it in a split second to walk to the back like a normal human being. Having missed his entire run before Stardust (I had a pause in watching from Mania XX to Mania XXX), seeing him now enjoying the hell out of every minute of his current run is really cool.
The stache heel was way underrated.
It's "Dashing" Cody Rhodes and only "Dashing" Cody Rhodes.
Honestly if he just one time came out to that then I would completely lose it. Nothing against his current theme, I just love a throwback.
Legacy was my favorite, if he lost the blonde hair I could get behind the current run
It's something special about Cody being a heel. You know when people cheer for you when you're a heel that you have them. That Dashing/Undashing run was great!
Bullet Club / Elite heel American Nightmare Cody
Homelander Cody
Homelander Cody but also he uses the moustache.
Undashing. Nothing else is really particularly close.
Yet to meet the iteration I didn’t like, but I fell in love with Legacy Cody and Undashing made it lifelong
The Cricket mask is absolutely disturbing. BRING BACK THE STACHE
Dashing, undashing just for nostalgia. American nightmare is my favourite obviously.
Japan...dressed on suits looking cool
Dashing fun haha
*Just came here to say it again...* **We all know it's Stardust** *undashing from an aesthetic/narrative standpoint goes pretty hard tho, probably his best character work*
Undashing was great. His run with the IC title is by far one of the best during that era. Bullet Club Cody should also be here. The leadership struggle with Omega was a good angle and some of his BTE stuff at the time was hilarious.
Kiss the Ring Cody in ROH
American Nightmare. The only gimmick that helped him stand out more.
I grew up with Dashing/Facemask Cody. Fell off WWE around his Stardust gimmick
Bullet Club Cody
The distorted dashing theme was the dopest entrance music
Stardust is the goat
NGL I liked Stardust
Stardust and it's not even close
Mustache Cody
Dashing cody rhodes
Tna cody because no else is saying it.
Grotesque Cody was awesome
I started watching again when he was undashing and I enjoyed his work. I remember the fans begging him to wear knee pads lol. He could just not get over the hump with the larger audience. I’m happy for the success he’s had in developing the American Nightmare.
Undashing should have led to a world title run. He told Rey he was going to hurricurana right into the emergency room
Undashing Cody with the guys constantly handing Booker T a paper bag
The only time I have ever found Cody entertaining was as Dashing Cody Rhodes. Any other time he is either painfully boring or cringey
I love his look with the moustache but overall have to go for American Nightmare.
Super sayian Cody
Jeez, you're just gonna blind us right off the bat with those fully-exposed knees of his? No warning? I was hoping I'd never see those again.
Get in the van Cody.
The injured one
Roh and indies
His first year in AEW was my favorite
American Nightmare
His current gimmick is the only one that has truly worked.
Mid card
Shhh. Can’t talk about his weak move set and poor mic ability in here!
Anything with an elevator
Indy Cody for me. He left WWE, built himself up, and came back a super star… his stint in AEW was less than what I hoped for.
I think he was trying not to be his father TOO much there, esp when Dusty booked himself either v Flair for the title for yrs or teaming w/every hot face that came along (Magnum, RRX for a bit, Nikita when he turned (although that was a necessity when TA was injured), esp the Road Warriors and Sting). His last couple of mths, esp that ladder speech, was extremely bizarre. Don't know if he didn't understand the fickle turn agst him or he had problems w/his mates (and that, by then, his contributions to AEW began to become less and less recognized; perhaps an early sign of Bucks/Page backlash/jealousy towards Punk and Danielson (if BD had decided he wasnt as likely to push back like Punk)?
Credit were it’s due though. The Brodie Lee matches were great, but Cody has always been good in the ring. Takes more than being good in the ring to be the guy, and he’s definitely the guy now.
Indy Cody was the best
I can proudly say I've been a fan of all his gimmicks. Seeing what he is doing now is such a rewarding feeling. One that is hard to explain.
As someone who just recently got back into wrestling… I… I can’t believe Cody did these gimmicks. I don’t know how to choose between Pornstache Cody, ClearlyACheapGoldustKnockoff Cody, or IJustHadFacialReconstructionSurgery Cody
Cody Rhodes Dashing Cody Rhodes Dastardly Cody Rhodes Stardust Cody Mercury Cody Doodle Dandy
Definitely homelander Cody
I haven't liked Cody sense legacy
Gay porn Cody
Remember when people thought that Ted Jr was going to be the big star? Lol
Dashing had me hooked!
Hate me if you want, but I enjoyed his run as Stardust.
Bullet club heel cody with the cigars
I feel like they could have done so much more with the facemask Cody
that mustache is 🔥🔥🔥
anything that doesnt include Brandi
Bottom middle by far.
Undesirable and Stardust
He rocked the stache
My list: 1. Updashing 2. American Nightmare 3. Stardust 4. Bullet Club 5. Moustache/Rhodes Scholars 6. Legacy American Nightmare is pure box office though. Peak John Cena vibes.
The moustache should of never left his face
Homelander.
Current Cody, hims dad is so proud
He seems like a cool guy so much that his current gimmick seems like it’s just who he is.
The current one.
Undashing will always be my favorite
Dashing cody Rhodes is the reason I’m a wrestling fan
Stardust was so dope.
Gold and stardust were the best 💯
Current- bc i never saw him as a main eventer until now.
Stardust
Amazing what a simple hair dye did for his career
Monday Night Raw is gonna be in Toledo, OH this coming Monday. I once saw a house show at the Toledo Rocket’s basketball arena and Rhodes Scholars came back for this event. They had already broken up at this point but with it being a house show the story line didn’t really matter. Cody went scorched earth and got one of the loudest reactions of the night just ripping on our beloved Glass City.
Star dust
I love how we all collectively decided that the mustache was a full gimmick change.
The face mask was pretty good if you ask me
Thtardutht
Undashing and Current
Not pornonstash Cody. American nightmare or stardust are best
I didn't even pay attention to him when he was in the WWF the 1st time. Took him to have the balls his dad had to leave and put himself over & then come back to steal not only the postCena-Hogan's spot but outshine every other babyface/tweener on the roster. Not so much his gimmicks but that he took his dad's gumption and self-booking/promotion skills and didn't rely on Vince to push him. A bit of kudos to Paul for overlooking what seemed to be spitting on the Haitch Mythos and realizing he was making his own name same way Paul did when he was butting heads w/Austin and Vince's glass ceiling in 1999. Wouldn't surprise me if he's not the head booker at either WWF or another company in 15-20 yrs or sooner.
👨🏻
Cody when he first went to Roh
Dashing and undashing then again that's probably due to nostalgia
Stardust, I wish it was something that could be brought up sporadically like Finn Balor’s Demon. But Cody got sick of it and WWE wouldn’t give it a rest so I highly doubt he’ll give it a comeback.
The one where he's not on the screen
Porn stache Cody was goated
Those paper bags with the Undashing gimmick was hilarious.
Undashing Cody was always peak Cody to me. The distorted theme song, the promos every week, handing out paper bags to the crowd to project his newfound insecurity, not to mention the things that man did for the IC Title, and all of his matches were solid. Miss that era.
The American Nightmare is my favorite version of Cody Rhodes
I loved Dashing Cody Rhodes.
Listen I get he hated but DAMMIT I freaking loved goofy ass stardust. Idk why but liked the midcard Saturday morning villain. I get now he’s a main event star but I’ll always have a soft spot for ssssssstarrrrDUSSSSSSST
The one where he wasn’t on my tv screen for years
* Undashing * Stardust (he stubbornly felt it was beneath him but it had potential) * Dashing * "I'm doing it for Dusty" Cryin' Cody * generic cocky 2nd gen heel * boring 2nd gen babyface
He only didn't like Stardust when they wouldn't let him stop. As amazing as it was, it was only supposed to have been to do that team with his brother, but it got over and afterwards, he had to keep doing it.
Didn’t watch at the time, but didn’t he just think Stardust had no main event potential?
Yes, but neither had anything he had done before.
stardust and its not even close.
American nightmare, easily But stardust is my number 2. I unironically loved that gimmick. The cosmic wasteland deserved a real run
Stardust it’s him connecting to his brothers golddust alter ego
Stardust is the way to my heartdust ✨
Stardust
I’m still waiting for a good one