10 Characters WWE Gave Up On Way Too Soon

3. 'Disfigured' Cody Rhodes

Cody Rhodes mask
WWE.com

The 'Dashing' Cody Rhodes gimmick had a glass ceiling on it. Though entertaining, it was cartoonish and never going to progress beyond the mid card. There's no excuse to save WWE creative when it comes to Cody's next character. 'Disfigured' Rhodes should have been given more of a chance.

When Cody started wearing a mask and blaming Rey Mysterio for destroying his handsome good looks, he took things further than simple whinging. Rhodes became a darker, more pessimistic and gloomy character who felt his image had been destroyed. It had legs, if creative were willing to get on board.

After showing hints they would (handing out brown paper bags to the fans was genius), WWE booked Randy Orton to break Cody's mask towards the end of 2011 and had Rhodes claim he had been set free. There was no need to do that, because Cody had been getting over and even brought credibility back to the Intercontinental Title.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.