Highlights
- Cody Rhodes went from a low point in WWE to becoming a top star.
- Rhodes’ decision to leave WWE and reinvent himself in other promotions led to the creation of AEW, now the second-largest wrestling company in the world.
- Winning the Royal Rumble and main eventing WrestleMania two years in a row has solidified Rhodes as a John Cena-level babyface.
Fans have rediscovered a 9-year-old article published on the official WWE website back in 2015 that had Cody Rhodes on the list of potential superstars who would one day be the “next John Cena.” Cody Rhodes is currently one of the biggest stars in WWE, with such incredible fan support that the audience rejected a match between Roman Reigns and The Rock and willed Rhodes’ WrestleMania rematch with Reigns back into existence.
Cody Rhodes is clearly the top babyface in the WWE at the time of this writing, but there once was a time when his future prospects were looking fairly grim. Years before his main event run, Rhodes was saddled with the Stardust gimmick, trapping him in the lower- and mid-card.
At the time, few would have ever picked Cody Rhodes to be the future John Cena-level face of the WWE, but an article published on WWE.com in 2015 did just that. The article, rediscovered by Reddit user TouyaShiun, selected Dean Ambrose (now known as Jon Moxley in AEW), Roman Reigns, Sasha Banks, Seth Rollins, Finn Balor, and Cody Rhodes as potential stars who could one day be the next face of the WWE. At the time the article was written, Rhodes’ stock was significantly lower than that of the other superstars mentioned in the post, which makes his inclusion seem rather random. Now, though, Rhodes is arguably a bigger star than all the others mentioned in the post, except for Roman Reigns.
Cody Rhodes Successfully Reinvented Himself Outside of WWE
In 2016, Cody Rhodes’ career in WWE had stalled significantly, and it was obvious that the company didn’t view him as a top guy. Rhodes made the risky decision to leave WWE and reinvent himself on the independent scene. This choice would have a seismic impact on the entire wrestling industry, with Rhodes befriending Kenny Omega and The Young Bucks. The four of them would eventually team up with Tony Khan to form All Elite Wrestling, which is currently the second-largest wrestling company in the world.
The work Rhodes did in ROH, NJPW, Impact Wrestling, and AEW made WWE take him seriously as a main event player, paving the way for his explosive return at WrestleMania 38. Rhodes has since gone on to win the Royal Rumble and main event WrestleMania two years in a row. Rhodes has already accomplished enough to establish himself as the company’s John Cena-level babyface, but if he is able to dethrone Roman Reigns at this year’s WrestleMania as many have predicted, his legacy as one of the company’s greatest stars will be cemented.
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