Why WWE Will Save Cody Rhodes From Burial

7. The Long And Winding Rhodes

As of this writing, Cody Rhodes is a 17-year veteran of the professional wrestling business. Truth be told, Cody's time in the industry obviously dates back way past his formal in-ring debut in 2006, with his father being the legendary Dusty Rhodes, his brother being Dustin Rhodes, and Cody taking his first bumps back when he was just 12 years of age.

The career of the American Nightmare has been a long and storied one, yet he is still only 37 years of age. From WWE developmental, to the main roster, to Legacy, to Dashing, to the Rhodes Scholars, to Stardust, to TNA, to Ring of Honor, to PWG, to New Japan, to even being a founding father of an entirely new mainstream promotion...

The point being, Cody Rhodes has done a hell of a lot in a hell of different guises throughout his career to date.

Upon shockingly departing AEW at the start of 2022, it soon became apparent that Cody was returning 'home' to WWE. Given how petty WWE has often been accused of being, what did the market leader have in mind for Rhodes? Would his public frustrations about previous creative decisions be held against him? Would the emergence of AEW be held against him? Could WWE really let all of those digs from Cody and his AEW cohorts slide? Was he being brought back just to be embarrassed?

Those concerns were ultimately unwarranted, with Cody's WrestleMania 38 appearance immediately placing him on the road to the promised land of the WWE main event scene.

Authored by Andrew Pollard

Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.

Posted On: 3rd Apr 2023

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Cody Rhodes WWE WrestleMania 39