10 Major Mistakes WWE Has Made In 2016 (So Far)
8. The Rhodes Not Taken
Talking of performers with an almost unlimited upside, Cody Rhodes’ release back in May came as a surprise only if you hadn’t been following his constant hints on Twitter about returning to the ring without the Stardust bodysuit and make-up.
It was a different story, however, if you were watching the WWE product. Not only was there no indication whatsoever that Stardust’s run might be coming to an end, there was no indication that any version of Cody Runnels, past, present or future, was even being written for, let alone being considered for a push out of the undercard.
Those two conflicting positions came to a head sometimes around the 21st May, when Runnels asked for his release and (after some friction, from all reports) received a conditional discharge from his WWE contract. After leaving, Runnels voiced his frustration for the first time with the creative process in the company, revealing his desperation to get shot of the Stardust persona.
It transpired that the company’s management and creative team didn’t have anything for him because they didn’t see anything important or useful in him.
Cody Runnels took every dodgy storyline and every cringeworthy character and ran a mile with it. ‘Dashing’ Cody Rhodes was hilarious, and his transition to the menacing Phantom Of The Opera version of the character was breathtakingly done. He got a cheesy moustache over.
In the all-heel Money In The Bank ladder match at the eponymous pay-per-view in 2013, he was the only babyface: Aaron ‘Damien Sandow’ Haddad recently revealed that he was sure that he’d been picked to win the match and screw his tag team partner Rhodes over because they had big plans for Cody, not for him.
Neither proved to be the case, of course: but for WWE not to see the value - the main event value - in a fearsomely committed, creatively engaged talent like Cody Runnels is mind-boggling. He’s intense, an athletic and charismatic worker, fantastic on the stick and as old school as it comes.
The man has everything necessary to become a star you build a promotion around, and it’s baffling that WWE let him slip away so easily.