AAMS Presents: Cult Icon's The Wrestlin Guy: Cody Rhodes FTW!

[Cult Icon]

Finally, something to sing about.


Yes ladies and gentlemen, I am happy to say I have broken out of my slump, or as some readers have called it creative ways to whine (har har har). Somehow, through all the doom and gloom going on in the wrestling world today some light has shown through. When did it start you ask? Why this past Monday night during RAW. Now yes, I too found it odd that RAW would be the place where my wrestling hope would be restored. Hell, I was even more surprised to find out that I wouldn’t even see this moment until today. Taking some suggested advice from people here and at home, I skipped out on RAW for a night out of town. It was a well deserved breather, but little did I know that I would miss something actually, you know, good. The best part about it was that it came from the fall out of the main event that night, and it was all thanks to the man that you see below you now.

No everyone, it is not a mirage you see or a picture that I posted by mistake. This young, really skinny young fellow here is Cody Rhodes. I’m sure some of you were expecting either John Cena, Randy Orton, D-X or Ted DiBiase, but really this shouldn’t be a surprised that. At only 24 years old, Cody has already accomplished a great deal in his career. He is a former 3 time Tag Team Champion, once with the immortal Bob Holly and twice with DiBiase. He’s recently found himself part of the stable Legacy, along with DiBiase and Orton which are the dominant heel faction in the WWE today (it may be by default but still). To add to the already impressive resume, Cody’s father is The American Dream Dusty Rhodes, one of the most charismatic and successful wrestlers of all time. His brother, Dustin Rhodes, hasn’t done that shabby himself during his career. Oh, and the guy also wears the Triforce logo from Legend of Zelda on his boots (that's epic all by itself). You combine all of that together, you would think that everyone around the IWC right now would be buzzing over the potential talent that Cody Rhodes has…except they aren’t.


As a matter of fact, you will be hard pressed to find anyone just talking about Cody Rhodes around here on the forum nowadays. Most of the talk concerning Legacy revolves around Orton, who is WWE Champion and in the prime of his career, or DiBiase, who many consider to be the second coming of…well something. Interestingly, Rhodes is the odd man out, basically considered to be the runt of the group and the one with the least potential. It’s unfortunate, but not really surprising. Cody’s father Dusty himself is largely overlooked by wrestling fans today for his accomplishments, due to his controversial booking after his wrestling career and the fact that he peaked during the time of Harley Race and the increasingly overhyped Ric Flair. Many forget how charismatic Dusty was, how great his promos more and especially how great his matches were (matches with guys like Flair, Race, Billy Graham and Steve Corino are considered classics in some form). Instead of that, he is remembered for the Dusty Finish and polka dots. In a symbolic way, Cody is starting to be underappreciated in the same way, to the point that very few see him for what he is…the best of the two young wrestlers in Legacy.

Oh I can hear all the DiBiase marks groaning now but it’s very simple. Since debuting in 2007, Rhodes has shown that he is capable of playing both a face and a heel, having successful runs at both during his time. Particularly impressive is his heel turn, as many people around here saw him potentially being a lifelong babyface, mostly due to the fact that his father was babyface for all but one year of his career. Instead, Rhodes has shown a certain arrogance and mean streak as a heel, and has grown to be taken very seriously. DiBiase, on the other hand, strikes most as being like Orton, meaning he can be an effective heel but probably a mediocre to average face. What also is impressive about Rhodes in comparison to DiBiase is his ring work. Cody has shown multiple times that he is very capable of having high quality matches, and appears to incorporate many styles into his matches. You can very easily see Cody working a technical style, a fast paced style and even possibly a high risk, high flying style. DiBiase, meanwhile, has still yet to really show anything in the ring. In fact, I haven’t seen the guy do many moves other than some stomps and his stupid finisher, another thing that Rhodes currently has that is superior. Granted, I haven’t seen every DiBiase match, but if something were going to really stand out about his ability, wouldn’t have already? The only thing that I can’t say Cody is better at are promos and charisma, but I can argue that he hasn’t been able to show it all yet. Why? Look at who he is related to. Are you gonna tell me the son of The American Dream, the brother of Goldust doesn’t have any charisma or mic skill in him? I suppose it is possible, but I would be completely stunned if there wasn’t at least a little bit there. Hopefully, we will be able to see more of that in the near future.


What really showed me that he could be something special though was this past Monday night at the end of RAW. For those of you who missed, Cody was set to face Orton for the WWE Championship (a match made by Dusty, who was guest GM that night) with John Cena as special referee. The match didn’t happen, as it was a set up to just beat up Cena. After the beat down though (which would include D-X and DiBiase) Orton suddenly RKO’d Dusty. Right here was where all the potential in Cody Rhodes appeared. The look on his face, the way he reacted to the situation, the way it came across was just epic, at least in my opinion. How someone couldn’t have felt his pain is beyond me. I read a post in the RAW thread of that episode about how Rhodes got the poster to actually care about him. It’s quite clear the audience did as well, as they were chanting the hell out of his name as the show went to close. If that doesn’t convince you of the talent Cody potentially has, then I honestly have no idea what will.


So what will come of this? In the short term, I’d probably have to guess nothing. It’s common fact that DiBiase, thanks to his filming of The Marine 2 (can’t you just smell the stench of that right now?) will be turning face sometime this fall, probably setting off a major push towards winning the title from Orton. Unless those plans have changed, Cody will probably come out and trash his dad this upcoming week on RAW, solidifying him even more as a heel but putting him on the backburner some more. Then there’s probably some more feuding with D-X until the DiBiase turn, and then who knows where. I’m sure some people believe midcard or jobber status, but I personally believe that is nuts. In fact, I am going to call it right now and say the same thing that happened 5 years ago will happen again this time around. The DiBiase face turn, like Orton’s in 04, will fail and lead to the WWE slowly building up Cody to the main event, the same way Batista was, at which point he will then win the WWE Championship. I’m not asking for it to happen, I’m telling you it is almost as good as done…if people open up their eyes.


And that is ultimately the question here. Will people take notice of Cody after seeing this past week’s RAW, from reading this column, or from something else? Unfortunately, these questions are something that I don’t have the answer for. All I know is that the young man is a very gifted, talented wrestler who deserves to not be underappreciated like his father, who deserves to have the people on this forum talk about him and his potential the same way they talk about DiBiase and his. For his sake, I truly hope so. No matter what, I will be rooting for him every step of the way and I will continue to say what I have said here; Cody Rhodes is the best wrestler in Legacy and will go onto win the WWE or World Heavyweight Championship one day…barring he dresses up in polka dots or starts calling himself Seven (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfqP18ik0oE watch here, you’ll understand). Finally, something to sing about.

Come on, you really think I could leave out a Triforce picture? I am Cult Icon, the Wrestlin Guy, and I close this column by saying I have a surprise for old time readers for the next column.

[Martin Riggs]

Mate, the Cody Rhodes ending was the first time in months i've been drawn to the screen. It was awesome.

Having said that, although this column was very good, it did seem rather 'Cody Rhodes>Ted Dibiase' for a good portion of it. While i get you were trying to establish him as a big potential star, it came off as rather petty occassionally, like you were saying it out of spite.

On the whole, though, you presented a solid argument about an oft-overlooked superstar, so kudos to you!

Good stuff, buddy

[Uncle Joe]

YAY because you said Flair was overhyped, which is very much was so.

BOO because there was not one mention of his impressive bugle. I mean, you can't help but stare man.

YAY because of the Triforce.

YAY Cody Rhodes.

[Box Car Rocco]

I liked this Cult. It was much more then your "Cody Rhodes did this, I think Cody Rhodes will do that, Cody Rhodes might become this etc..." You singled out one particular moment and focused on that throughout which I liked. I haven't seen the moment, but it does sound awesome, especially if the crowd was chanting his name at the end of it.

[Freeman]

Marvelous stuff here Cult.

I'm not one of these guys that harps on about DiBiase and says that Rhodes is a piece of shit, because I can't really see a great deal of potential in either of them. However, that's not to say that I didn't enjoy this, and that ending the other night was damn good.

Believe it or not, the best part of this column was your narrative voice. Keep writing in that style and your onto a winner buddy.

Good column, well done matey.

[Leonard]

No, no, no...Flair is not overhyped. How can you overhype someone that's had a good match with practically everybody he's faced? He even got good matches out of Ken Doane and Carlito in his later days. But that's an argument for a different time...

I loved this. I'm a big Cody Rhodes fan for some reason, and I think you really pinpointed why here. You also brought up a good point in that Dibiase hasn't shown his versatility (or lack thereof) of character portrayal. I do, however, hope that they're both very successful. At any rate, great work, sir.

--Leonard

[Andy]

Well you tried something which reminds me of your Cult Superstar series, which I mostly enjoyed as a distant reader. You make a good case for Rhodes, but it would have helped if you were a little less biased towards him. It is nice to see you be a bit more optimistic and enthusiastic in your writing, which has been gone for a while since you were pessimistic about nearly everything in your last couple of columns.

"to the point that very few see him for what he is…the best of the two young wrestlers in Legacy."

I think this statement should have read:

"to the point that very few see him for what he is; the best of the two young wrestlers in Legacy."

Maybe you should ask someone with a greater knowledge of grammar, but a think a semi-colon was the correct thing to use in this instance. By any chance, do you know why Cody is takin a boner in that second picture?

Good read.

[Super Chrisss]

AWESOME column dude. Last week's RAW was one of the best shows I've seen in a LONG time, and Rhodes (both of them) played a major role in making that so. I too saw a glimmer of hope in young Cody and this column made me feel confident in my assumptions. Nicely written with very few mistakes.

And LOL @ the Cody-Boner pic you posted

[MyLeeCyrus]

Immensely enjoyable, and I completely agree with you; Raw ended brilliantly, and it was 90% thanks to Cody's reaction to the RKO. Top read, and well done for getting in there first.

[Petre Dyche]

CO-DY! CO-DY! CO-DY! CO-DY!!

I'm sure I speak for everyone in describing the sheer shock at the ending of Raw last week. It's a TV show, and everything is scripted, that we know. Unlike other live audience shows however, the crowd isn't told how to react. The performers have absolutely no idea what reaction they may get. To have the whole arena buzzing with CO-DY chants was beyond Gerwitz's wildest dreams I'm sure. A playa who we've not really had any reason to care about prior to the last few weeks (the feud with DX has actually been more credible than people give credit) is suddenly getting the biggest pop I've heard in...in...I honestly don't know.

Great timing of the column, although I think you may be a little premature in declaring him a future world champion. He really needs to work on those leg muscles. Given his DNA, it's shocking to see him so small.

Lovely stuff CI. I've never really read much of your stuff, but I certainly will do from now on.

[Kano]

Hey man I really enjoyed this. Very unqiue for a guy to write about Cody Rhodes but watching RAW his reaction was incredible, almost as good as when Orton RKO'ed Steph and Trips reaction was awesome.

Really enjoyed your comparasions between Cody and Ted, I feel Cody has shown more than Ted lately but I still feel Ted will hit a singles championship before Cody. I also think Cody will be a big part of the WWE when people like Hunter, Batista and HBK all retire for the simple fact will be, an upper midcarder. Soon to get his shot

But like I said man, really enjoyed this, well done.

PS: I also loved the Cody chants

[LimeFlavored]

The problem with Cody Rhodes' long term potential is summed up by a comparison to another well known character that talks the same as he does: Sylvester the cat. Thomebody thould tell Cody that thpeaking ethes with your tongue and teeth makes a "th" thound, not an eth thound. No one that speaks that way is going to be headlining the WWE, long term anyway.

Without regards to the man, though, I liked the column. I was entertained and finished the entire thing without looking at a clock or wondering how long it was going to go on. When that happens, you get a thumbs up from me.

[Stryder]

I really like Cody so to see a column just about him was great. You explained your points well and I didn't notice any huge spelling/grammar mistakes. I had a conversasion with someone about how Ted's push would go the way of Ortons in 04 and Cody would get the slow burn so I 100% agree with you there. Except Cody doesnt suck like Batista and is way younger and has huge potential to be at the top of the industry for a good ten years. Cody Rhodes FTW indeed sir.

[Cult Icon]

alright lots of ppl to respond to.

j-boom, i agree that at times i was being a little harsh to dibiase. my only reason for that was to try and make cody look better by comparison and not out of spite, though i can see that it couldve come off that way. i was glad i was able to convince you that my argument for cody was well founded.

joe, glad to see your enthusiasm towards everything except me mentioning codys package. for some reason, i actually didnt notice him w his boner when i got the picture, and only on here after numerous ppl commented on it did i notice lol.

box car, even though you are a tna fan i recommend highly that you see the end of raw from this past week. it is as awesome as i made it sound in this column.

freeman, i agree w the narrative voice being really good here, and im definitely going to try and stick w it. a shame that you think cody doesnt have any potential (or dibiase for that matter) and hopefully they can prove to you soon that they indeed do.

leonard, yes flair is overhyped. hes still damn good, but he is largely as popular as he is today because the wwe higher ups pushed the flair is the greatest ever idea down everyones throats. that is all i meant by that, i still think he is one of the best wrestlers ever and your points about his matches w ken dykstra were well founded (carlito however is actually a pretty good wrestler when motivated). glad to see you r a cody fan as well and that you enjoyed wat you read. as much as i seemed to be sour on dibiase, i too hope he can start showing some more variety and be successful.

andy, thanx for the suggestions on grammar. the reason for the dots is just a thing i like to do, it feels suspenseful lol. it did feel like cult superstar a bit i thought, which i hope helped it. and i honestly have no idea why cody has a boner, perhaps some divas were in the ring lol.

chrisss, rarely has there been a moment like cody had this past monday night. it could be a career making moment for him. and yes, indeed lol at codys boner.

mylee, really not much else to say other than glad you enjoyed it.

petre, it was indeed shocking how raw ended and youre right in saying that is the beauty of wrestling. i think its good that cody is so small, and if you watched raw, it looks like dusty is making an effort to get skinnier like his son has. thats just my theory though. glad you will be paying attention to the columns from now on.

kano, id have to agree that dibiase will be a champ before cody, but cody wont be far behind. id agree w your other statement if i didnt think those names you mentioned would be sticking around for a bit, which they unfortunately will be.

limeflavored, not sure wat you were trying to do w whole sylvester/cody comparison, but thanx for reading and being entertained by it. shows wat im doing is working lol.

stryder, glad to see you r a cody fan as well and that you see him going the same way boretista did after the orton push failed. glad to also see you think boretista sux lol. Cody Rhodes FTW!

thanx to everyone else who read and enjoyed this, especially to skittlez for plugging it on the main page. i am very proud of this and even prouder than you all enjoyed this column. see you again in a couple of days.

[Rodimus]

Everybody has been kind of expecting Dibiase to be the star of legacy, but this past week on Raw Cody really stepped up, I dont see him being a world champion, but then again who ever saw Rey Mysterio being there, as for Dibiase I think he has potential but just hasnt proved himself as much as other people seem to think he has..in my opinion.

[The Maz]

Cult, I enjoyed this and it read very well indeed. As for agreeing, across the board there was some I did and some I didn't. For the meat (no homo) of the column, I have to say that I have swung back and forth like a pendulum with Cody. I thought he was ever so boring as a face and then with the heel turn, I saw the potential. The problem is every time he starts to impress me, he does something extraordinarily homo. There is something in his mannerisms that just looks off at times. I have yet to see Raw and it sounds that people are very excited about Cody. For me he acts over the top quite a lot but then again, people cream for HBK's OTT actions. For me the jury is still out but I certainly have an open mind.