10 Things You Didn't Know About WWE Payback
2. The Final WWE Match Of "Cody Rhodes"
Much like Payback 2016 saw Bret Hart's final Sharpshooter, two years prior Payback was host to Cody Rhodes' final match as, well, Cody Rhodes.
At that 2014 event, Cody and Goldust came up short against Ryback and Curtis Axel. Left rocked by this loss, Cody followed the Owen Hart mantra of "enough is enough and it's time for a change"; only that change initially involved Cody putting Sin Cara with Goldust, then trying R-Truth as his brother's partner.
With the Cara and Truth partnerships not working out, it's here that Cody Rhodes would debut his face paint-adorned, bodysuit-wearing eccentric persona of Stardust.
We'd had the Legacy Cody, we'd had Dashing and Undashing versions of Cody, we'd had the Rhodes Scholars iteration of Cody, and now Payback 2014 had seen the final match of the future American Nightmare's WWE career under his Cody Rhodes name.
Famously, Cody would become frustrated with the Stardust gimmick in the months prior to him departing WWE in 2016, pleading for that character to be dropped entirely. While stubborn WWE creative refused to placate Rhodes at that point, the promotion was obviously extremely eager to welcome him back into the fold as Cody Rhodes upon Cody's return to WWE last year.