10 Secret Messages Wrestlers Sent
6. Stardust Uses Subtext
When evolving his post-WWE character, Cody Rhodes was inspired by several industry luminaries.
His father was a key influence, of course. He was a very measured and articulate man, drawing indirect inspiration from Nick Bockwinkel, albeit as a face. Cody played a besuited, elegant, timeless figure in contrast to the athletic hybrid super-workers that had almost become indistinguishable from one another. Deep into his AEW run, Cody, by sacrificing his body in an artful, forward-thinking way, operated in a similar way to Mick Foley. He was intent on putting his opponents over and accomplished it with his structural brilliance.
He was also, incredibly enough, inspired by Stardust.
On February 23, 2015, Cody as Stardust cut a promo that had strong parallels with the iconic Road To Double Or Nothing episode that acted as early proof that AEW was set to be something special.
Under the paint, with a barely suppressed fury, Cody cut a dot com digital exclusive promo away from the scripted confines of TV bemoaning the state of the industry. It was barely in character. "I want a steak," he ranted, "but before I get it, I have to cut the fat. The slack is Goldust, but he's not alone. The slack is Big Show, is Kane, is Mark Henry. My only word is "get the Attitude out"." More famously, when accepting the challenge of Dustin Rhodes again in 2019, Cody claimed he was "here to kill the Attitude Era".
In 2015, he was letting people in on a secret: he was sick to the stomach of WWE recycling its past, and was planning to change wrestling's future.