WrestleRant
  • Home
  • Columnist Corner
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • Audio
  • Videos
  • Store
  • About
  • Contact
Picture

Breaking WWE News: Cody Rhodes Released

5/21/2016

1 Comment

 
Picture
By Graham "GSM" Matthews

​From wrestlers to managers to announcers to backstage hands, over a dozen employees have been released from WWE in the last month alone. But today, news broke of perhaps the most surprising departure broke when Cody Rhodes revealed on his personal Twitter account he has asked for his release from the organization. WWE has yet to confirm. He wrote the following:

"​The past ten years have been quite the trek, but as of earlier today I have asked for my release from WWE. I'll speak further on the matter shortly. Thank you to all the pro-wrestling/sports entertainment fans worldwide. Thank you."
Picture
None of the many releases from earlier this month shocked me considering all of them could have been seen coming (most of them hadn't been on WWE TV in ages), but Rhodes leaving is definitely disappointing. Granted, this is a different situation because he asked for his walking papers and wasn't fired by the company, but it still surprises me, nevertheless. Although he hasn't been prominently featured on programming in a year or two, he received more television time as Stardust than just about everyone else who has left recently combined.​

I've been a fan of Rhodes' dating back to his days in The Legacy. Although he arrived on the scene in 2007 as part of angle with his father the late, great Dusty Rhodes and stuck around on the roster in a tag team with Hardcore Holly, to me, he didn't start to show signs of potential until he paired up with Orton and Ted DiBiase. He found his footing as a heel, and following the dissolution of The Legacy, he had the chance to break out on his own.

It took a little longer than expected, but he finally captured his first singles title in the form of the Intercontinental Championship in August 2011. He embarked on an excellent reign with the belt over the next eight months before dropping the belt to Big Show in anticlimactic fashion at WrestleMania 28. Despite that, I firmly believed that was when WWE should have transitioned him into the main event scene on SmackDown and possibly award him the Money in the Bank briefcase, but Dolph Ziggler won the opportunistic briefcase instead.

That essentially became a recurring theme throughout the remainder of Rhodes' WWE tenure. He didn't enter the World Heavyweight Championship picture as expected, but he did form an unexpectedly awesome tag team with Damien Sandow. Sadly, they never won the WWE Tag Team Championship, but their breakup did serve as the catalyst for Rhodes' overdue face turn in the summer of 2013. Anyone who has told me that Cody was never over without a gimmick, I always directed them to Money in the Bank 2013 when Philadelphia was desperate to see him win and cheering his name over and over.

I was hopeful that was his time to emerge as a main event level star, but he was instead put back in the tag team ranks alongside his brother Goldust. Again, I was content with that because they brought the division to new heights, but we didn't get the long awaited feud between them once they went their separate ways. Rather, Stardust was born. I despised the character when it debuted because I thought it was a waste of his potential. Yes, he put a ton of effort into making the gimmick work, but it was painfully apparent it was a poor man's Goldust.

Furthermore, Cody Rhodes could and should have been a world champion in WWE. The Stardust shtick ran its course well over a year ago, and as a result, he has done nothing of note over the last year. Reverting the second-generation star back to the Cody Rhodes name and having him pay homage to his father would have been a brilliant way of bringing him back into storylines, but apparently that was too logical of an idea. In fact, he has been teasing a Cody Rhodes return on Twitter as of late, but I didn't read too much into it considering it wouldn't have been the first time he's teased returning as Cody and didn't deliver.

Either way, it's really unfortunate to see him leave after a ten year career in WWE. As noted, he'll discuss his departure at length sometime soon, so it will be interesting to see whether there is more to the story than simply his contract expiring. He is young enough that he can make a name for himself elsewhere, perhaps in New Japan Pro Wrestling or on the independent circuit, and I hope he does. He has all the tools to be a top-tier talent wherever he ends up. Or, similar to his old tag team partner Ted DiBiase (who also left on his own terms back in 2013), he might start up a family with his wife Eden. Regardless of what his future holds, I'm looking forward to what's next for him.


SEE ALSO: "Out With the Old, In With the New Era in WWE"

1 Comment
Jeffrey Case
5/23/2016 03:56:37 pm

I had the pleasure of seeing him wrestle and actually talking to him when he was working with his dad's promotion down in the Atlanta, GA area. I sure wish I could remember what is was called though.

Reply



Leave a Reply.


    Categories

    All
    #AskGSM
    Battle Of The Belts
    Cruiserweight Classic
    Halftime Heat
    Hidden Gems
    Interviews
    Lists/Rankings
    Mae Young Classic
    Mixed Match Challenge
    News
    NJPW
    NWA Shockwave
    NXT PLEs
    Opinion
    Previews
    Retro Reviews
    Reviews
    RJ's Two Cents
    Satire
    Slammy Awards
    SNME
    SummerSlam Recall
    The Deadly Draw
    The World Is A Vampire
    Tribute To The Troops
    Women's Eliminator
    Worlds Collide
    WrestleMania Recall
    WWE Draft
    WWE Network Specials
    WWE PLEs
    WWE Starrcade


    Archives

    June 2025
    May 2025
    April 2025
    March 2025
    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    October 2024
    September 2024
    August 2024
    July 2024
    June 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010

    RSS Feed

©2025 WrestleRant. All Rights Reserved.
  • Home
  • Columnist Corner
  • Reviews
  • Interviews
  • Audio
  • Videos
  • Store
  • About
  • Contact