10 Bizarre Times WWE Stars Experimented With Their Gimmick

2. Cody Rhodes - Stardust Tries To Kill The Attitude Era

Cody Rhodes
WWE

Cutting a promo that foretold the formation of AEW long before the ‘American Nightmare’ had burst free from the shackles of a half-cooked knockout gimmick, Cody Rhodes’ salvo against the hangers-on was a lone nightlight from a bizarre and otherwise-pointless persona.

After a surprise hit of a tag run alongside brother Dustin in 2013, WWE refused to give the pair their big WrestleMania match and instead turned Cody into a sham Goldust with little other than a losing streak to justify the madness. Cody being Cody tried and tried and tried to find salad amongst the sludge, but it was an all-timer dud given to a guy running out of tolerance for the process.

This was best displayed during a now-prescient backstage promo with backstage interviewer Eden Stiles, in which he correctly places blame for his terrible turn of fortune on the broken system he's trapped in and the ancient wrestlers it valued. Stiles - his real life wife Brandi - is living every word with him. Within two years, she'd be taking every bold step towards change too.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett