40 Greatest Stories Wrestling Ever Told

Whilst portraying Stardust, Cody Rhodes wanted out. He pushed for his departure from WWE in 2016 and struck out on his own. Then, against all the odds, Cody shoved independent wrestling to the forefront of fan attention and helped lay the bedrock for what'd become AEW. By 2022, he yearned to "finish the story", and there was only one way to do that.

Return to WWE, win the biggest title on offer and hold it aloft whilst saying: 'I did it, dad'.

Rhodes wanted to win the WWE Title and conclude a family story that had raged on for generations. Dusty couldn't scale the mountain to win Vince McMahon's richest prize, but Cody could do it for him. He'd fight through a torn pec injury to win the 2023 Royal Rumble following his comeback, then Rhodes set his sights on 'Tribal Chief' Roman Reigns heading into WrestleMania 39.

Unthinkably, he lost, and everyone watching was crushed. The result was so left field that some refused to show patience by blasting Triple H/WWE for throwing away a natural babyface story. 12 months later, Rhodes was paraded around by his peers as he celebrated beating Roman to become WWE Champ at 'Mania 40. All's well that ends well.

This outcome was well worth waiting on, but that didn't become clear to everybody until things unfolded. Memories of Cody tearfully promising his deceased father that he'd win the big one for him on Raw resurfaced, and fans joined the Rhodes family in punching the air with delight that he'd "finished the story" after all.

So good.