10 Biggest Downgrades In WWE History

Reliving the absolute American Nightmare that was Cody Rhodes' last real stint inside of the Sports Entertainment giant proves that even the most painful of professional wounds can find a way to heal themselves over time.

Going from being presented as the talented offspring of the highly respected Dusty Rhodes, exuding arrogant charm in his "Dashing" days, and showing flickers of a more menacing and sadistic edge in his clear-mask "Undashing" era, Rhodes' reward for this steady evolution into becoming a reliable and often entertaining WWE act was as disheartening as it was ultimately catastrophic for the company in the long run.

Lumping Cody with a Goldust 2.0 gimmick, the eventual AEW EVP never shied away from his utter disdain towards McMahon's attempts to make Stardust a thing - blasting the enigmatic splatter of face paint as a "f***ing space clown" later down the road.

Said disenchantment with WWE on the back of this character change would result in Cody calling it quits and eventually setting an All Elite ball of competition in motion, of course. And even with WWE swallowing their pride and bowing to Rhodes' demands of never uttering that star-faced menace's name again upon re-signing with McMahon's circus, Cody's WWE legacy (pun intended) will forever come equipped with a sparkly blotch.