9. Cody Rhodes
It was inevitable that Vince McMahon would view a performer with Codys credentials as a sure-fire home run: young, handsome, athletic, comfortable in front of camera and on the microphone, with a famous industry name and strong familial ties to the company. Although he didnt quite receive the red carpet treatment afforded his fellow legacies years earlier, Cody was initially packaged in the same bland, squeaky-clean babyface role handed to Rocky Maivia and Randy Orton on their own debuts. Unsurprisingly in the modern era of internet smart marks and congenital cynicism, the character bombed; the gimmick of the All-America goody-two-shoes was wearing stale even before Steve Austin and the Survivor Series Screw-job came along and turned wrestlings understanding of good guys and bad guys completely on its head. The smug, self-entitled, douchebag that emerged once Rhodes turned and joined fellow industry brats Randy Orton, Ted DiBiase, and (briefly) Manu to form Legacy, was a far better fit, and mirrored Ortons evolution right down to The Vipers understudy role at the side of an established star in (appropriately enough) Evolution. Thats about as far as the career synchronicity went, however: there would be no successful split, no rocket to the moon for Rhodes. He and Ted Dibiase were booked instead in the role of Randy Ortons punching bags. The angle made for an embarrassing contrast with Ortons own solo launch five years earlier: already World Champion, Orton was handed a face turn and top-line feud in which Triple H did everything he could to make his former protégé look his equal. Clearly the WWE brass didnt deem Rhodes ready for the big time. Instead, he remained exactly where he was, the company repeatedly declining the opportunity to make him more than mid-card filler. The idea of his brining prestige back to the Intercontinental Title with a lengthy reign was abandoned in favour of a senseless job to The Big Show at Wrestlemania XXVIII that did neither man any favours, and the inevitable split from Dibiase unfolded as a rushed and irrelevant afterthought. Cody floundered to find traction for his persona, something that would separate him from the pack. To a certain extent, Cody was suffering the symptoms of a common malaise in the modern WWE. The outlandish gimmicks of Hogan-era WWF are (almost entirely) a thing of the past, and the extreme impressions established by the boundary-pushing antics of the Attitude-era crew regrettably rendered obsolete by the McMahon-mandated PG policy. The distinction between performers has, as a result, become less well-defined than before, characters defined by marginal distinctions in their personality or appearance (a noteworthy corollary being the near-unanimity of the Christian-name-followed-by-patronymic-name under which almost every member of the roster performs). So it was that Cody cast about for a hook, the tired Dashing gimmick throwing up a plastic facemask, mirror, and brown paper bag as potential totems around which audience interest might coalesce. Ultimately, it was an unintentional though no less dated addition that finally made an impression, Codys moustache an ironic affectation that, while throwaway, did at least set an appropriate tone for his partnership with the similarly self-regarding Damien Sandow. Presented as the star in his recent scraps with Sandow, it would appear that Dustys youngest son now has Creatives backing, three years after it was found most wanting. His persona still suffers from a lack of definition, and hes crying out for an angle as effective as Ortons Legend Killer routine, but his ring-presence and charisma have undoubtedly progressed to the point at which Vince McMahon can be confident that, when something good does come along, Cody will have the skills to make it work.