10 Strange Wrestling Attire Choices - Explained
4. Cody Rhodes Dyes His Hair At Puzzling Time
Whether puzzled into submission by WWE's cheap and apathetic approach or otherwise, certain wrestling fans cannot wrap their heads around the idea that Cody Rhodes does certain things - keep your focus here, this is complex, radical stuff - to get over as a star.
His pyro is loud and excessive. He is sometimes backed by an entourage. He has the goddamn temerity to bleed in certain matches designed to elicit sympathy!
That last Rhodes trademark - not that he invented it, since it's a timeless standard you were conned into thinking is an ego stroke - rendered the decision to dye his hair black in the summer of 2020 somewhat strange. He was approaching an awesome claret-drenched war with the late, great Mr. Brodie Lee. Bleached blonde hair is canvas for blood. The plight of the blonde babyface looks all the more graphic and terrifying.
In the end, it didn't much matter; the oppressive humidity evaporated the blood almost instantly, and the match was such a futuristic and committed old school war that the content didn't rely on head-shaking, blood-spraying histrionics.
Cody later explained that his image change was a riff on the Death of Superman - he darkened his aesthetic to cast doubt over his ability to overcome this monstrous threat - and was disappointed that nobody got it.