10 Things Cody Rhodes Achieved From The List

"After 8/19."

That was the whole caption. Accompanied by a simple piece of paper that had 14 goals for Cody Rhodes post-WWE, the future AEW Executive Vice President sent social media into a frenzy on 28 May 2016, just six days after WWE formally confirmed his WWE release.

There was legitimate hype for what, exactly, Cody would achieve outside of WWE. He'd always been a gifted in-ring worker - his dad's Dusty Rhodes, for God's sake, it's sort of a family tradition - but WWE had rarely let him showcase this. A gorgeous Moonsault on Road Dogg from atop a steel cage shouldn't be the sole career highlight for someone of Cody's calibre.

Thus, when his WWE release was announced on 22 May 2016, we, as wrestling fans, understandably wanted to see the guy succeed. We knew he could go, he created investment with this list, and all the major promotions wanted a slice of the pie.

It's odd to reflect on this wondrous period, given how drastically the landscape of pro wrestling has changed since 2016. You could argue that, for all the epics the Young Bucks were producing, this transformation began with the American Nightmare leaving WWE.

Cody didn't complete the list, sadly, but he did get quite far in doing so...

Streamers were a regular occurrence in Ring of Honor when they had live audiences, and so 2018's Supercard of Honor XII wasn't actually the first time Cody Rhodes had received the tradition.

It was a marquee situation, however.

Cody was wrestling Kenny Omega in what was only Omega's second singles match in the company throughout the Bullet Club era. For the uninitiated, the bout came during the peak of Being the Elite's success, with that excellence translated into a superlative story throughout the main companies the Elite was part of.

The particular arc between Rhodes and Omega had stemmed from the prior June's New Japan Dominion event, where Cody had teased throwing the towel in during Kenny's IWGP Heavyweight Championship quest against Kazuchika Okada in their classic. Their story was a main talking point not only in Ring of Honor, but in the wrestling industry as a whole; their match was an anticipated clash during a WrestleMania weekend that also featured Ronda Rousey's in-ring debut and Daniel Bryan's return.

That's how big this was.

For Cody - and Omega, for those wondering - to receive the streamers during their respective entrances told you that this was a big-time fight. It was a Wrestle Kingdom-calibre match, both in terms of its story and the match that ensued; streamers had to be thrown.