8 Times WWE Stars Couldn't Hide Their Boo-Boo Face

6. Cody Rhodes

Cody Rhodes "finished the story" at WrestleMania XL in a moment so utterly euphoric and gratifying that it obscured how the show and the moment was closer to the end of the boom rather than the beginning. 2024 was a joyous time to be a WWE fan, not least because the 'Show Of Shows' had played host to a payoff that proved the company once again knew how to deliver the happiest of happy endings instead of the full troll route perpetuated by Vince McMahon.

That level of faith wasn't quite in place a year earlier, and for a 48 hour-or-so period around Rhodes falling short against Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 39, a lot of hope felt lost.

As the man set to look at the lights, Cody was unfortunately the first to know. It was written across the face of 'The American Nightmare' as he entered for his bout against 'The Tribal Chief', until about half way down the aisle when he tried to snap out of it and lock back in to being the man who - for the entire first year in the company - looked as though he was a dead cert to live his new dream on WWE's 'Grandest Stage'. 

Many recall Rhodes unable to mask his devastation when he briefly handed his WrestleMania spot over to The Rock in January 2024 before an all-time pivot course corrected. Those that had watched things fall apart in Los Angeles a year earlier knew they'd seen the expression before. "We Want Cody" was turbo-charged by a refusal to see him stumble once again.