100 Best Wrestling Moves EVER

By Michael Sidgwick /

32. Cody Rhodes | Cross Rhodes

Lee South/AEW

When Cody Rhodes voluntarily left WWE in 2016, few people expected what was to come.

Advertisement

He wasn’t an amazing wrestler and was out of fashion - but to use a cliché, if you’re never truly in fashion, you’re never truly out. Cody played the long game, mastered the art of self-promotion, learned how to get over in front of different audiences, and was intelligent enough to sense that the counter-fest advertised dream match epic would burn itself out.

The origins of Cody Rhodes: biggest babyface of the 21st century can, however, be traced back to WWE Battleground 2013.

Advertisement

Saving his storyline job, he drove Seth Rollins to the mat with his gorgeous Cross Rhodes finish. A creative DDT/cutter hybrid, the best bumps for which look like the recipient has just suffered a stinger, the set-up allows Cody to appeal to the audience with a fiery babyface roar.

The emotion coursing through him on the best night of his first WWE run was incandescent - his mouth looked bigger than his entire head - was beyond stirring.

Advertisement