In 2016 Cody Rhodes shocked the world when he announced his WWE departure. Cody had spent years working as the Stardust character, and fans were patiently waiting for him to drop the gimmick. When it became apparent that WWE didn’t have any plans to transform Stardust back into Cody Rhodes, Cody decided to leave and blaze his own trail.
Over the past year he’s accomplished some incredible things and Cody recently told Fox Sports that the goal of leaving WWE was to find himself. Cody has worked with several companies recently, and he is the first and only man to wrestle at WrestleMania, Bound For Glory, Final Battle and Wrestle Kingdom in the same calendar year.
“Honestly, I didn’t intend on being at Bound for Glory, Final Battle, Wrestle Kingdom, WrestleMania all in the same calendar year. I said it after my match at Wrestle Kingdom, I said nobody but me and that’s the cocky side of me and a lot of pride and the fact that I was able to do it. I was able to cross some streams in companies that don’t always work together. In this case they allowed it.”
As noted, Cody has worked with several promotions since parting ways with WWE, but according to Cody himself, it’s the ROH fans that truly put him to the test.
“Ring of Honor, it’s consistency and it’s tradition and the people that it’s turned out. I mean it’s been a factory for stars that would end up going to NXT (WWE) as the stars they were in Ring of Honor, and it’s fans represent the hardest fan to please. If you’re in front of a Ring of Honor crowd and you suck, they’ll let you know. This was a place for me to find out is Cody Rhodes even worth a d–n and worth all this fuss.”
Cody Rhodes has certainly walked his own path and there’s a lot more for him to accomplish in the wrestling business and beyond. Soon Cody Rhodes will be reprising his role as Derek Sampson on “Arrow” and you can get more on that below.
