7 Ups And 5 Downs From WWE NXT TakeOver: Respect

By Scott Carlson /

Downs...

5. Isn't Cody Dead?

This moment is a hard one to judge, so it€™s going to get a very mild €œdown€ here. With the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic complete, NXT brought out the Rhodes family to present the inaugural trophy. They even went the extra step of having Eden Stiles (Brandy Runnels, Cody€™s wife) do the ring announcing. Also out there were the American Dream€™s sons, Cody and Dustin. Neither man was in his paint, which can be construed as a couple different tactics. It seemed like WWE was moving away from the ink for this match to get real emotions out of TV. But you have to remember that this is still technically within storylines. So when Cody took the mic and started talking about Dusty, it€™s tough to reconcile that Stardust has said that Cody is no more and doesn€™t exist.It also doesn€™t help that when the time came initially after Dusty€™s death, neither son appeared on TV to soak in the cheers from the crowd. Cody finally resurfaced, but solely as Stardust, and he never acknowledged Dream€™s passing. That€™s fine €“ disappointing, but fine €“ but then to reverse course, you should have a good explanation.