11 Weird Heel Turns WWE Icons Would Like You To Forget

Before he returned to WWE and became the number one hero of the 'New Paul Levesque Era', Cody Rhodes' final few months as part of the AEW machine didn't actually see him performing in the role of the universally adored babyface fans know and love today.

Instead, 'The American Nightmare' portrayed a somewhat polarising figure, one who simply refused to turn to the dark side despite audiences around the country clearly begging for him to embrace the hate.

Fans had evidently lost a bit of interest in the heroic version of Rhodes seen clashing with various rivals within the 'Codyverse', and at times it even felt like Cody himself was teasing a full-blown heel switch down the road.

In the end, though, Rhodes left the company before ever going full villainous EVP.

And he'd later go on to admit that his strange attempts to generate heat by not giving fans the one thing they wanted from him was perhaps "a bit too meta."

It's hard to argue with that assessment when looking back on the surreal period there when this future top hero in the business was very much booed out of the building when taking on villains like Ethan Page and cutting babyface promos to the Dynamite crowd. What a weird ol' time.