15 WWE Break-Ups That IMMEDIATELY Backfired
12. Stardust Stabs Goldust In The Back (2015)
The Stardust character has gone down in infamy as something Cody Rhodes ultimately rejected in order to better his career and come back to WWE stronger. He deserves a lot of praise for believing in himself and doing that, he really does. Back in February 2015 though, Cody's Stardust turned on his brother Goldust to kick start a rivalry between them that Vince McMahon didn't seem to even want.
Why book it then? Vince wouldn't give the brothers a one on one match against each other at WrestleMania 31...even though the split had happened shortly before the biggest event of the year. Work that one out. So, they entered a mediocre showing at Fastlane, then the newly heel Stardust leapt into a storyline with actor Stephen Amell and then fell into bed with The Ascension as ‘The Cosmic Wasteland’.
Neither idea worked, for the record, and Stardust slid further down the card. If his turn was supposed to cement Cody as a Goldust beater, then that failed. He’d leave the company due to creative frustrations in May 2016, and the rest is history. Rhodes diligently went back to basics on the independent circuit, had a blast doing so, then helped form AEW before returning to WWE in 2022 and becoming poster boy.
2015's split from Goldust was one thing, but choosing to persist with a gimmick Cody himself didn't really want to play (and one that made no sense now he was away from Dustin/striking out on his own) was madness. Sheer madness. The only "wasteland" around here was the creative thought process for Rhodes.