10 Times WWE Dropped The Ball With Cody Rhodes

As previously noted, the Stardust character was what it was and Cody Rhodes deserves all the credit in the world for making it work the best he could. But there was still plenty left for him to accomplish in WWE, and there was virtually no chance of him becoming anything more than a lower-midcard competitor while working as Stardust.

A fitting time for Rhodes to resurface would have been after Dusty passed last summer so he could pay homage to his father and potentially win the United States Championship. Understandably, that was nixed because it would have been seen as WWE's way of capitalising on Dusty's death.

That said, Rhodes teased on Twitter multiple times this year that Stardust was "dead" and the return of Cody Rhodes was imminent. There was even speculation we could have witnessed Rhodes' return in the Royal Rumble match, but he noted that he was told there was "no interest", presumably from officials (as he would later clarify in the statement he released following his departure).

In the months preceding his release, Stardust was mainly relegated to wrestling on WWE Superstars and Main Event. Would Cody Rhodes have been more prominently featured had he ditched the face paint? We'll never know, but it's safe to assume he would have remained with the company had he been granted his wish.