50 Best Wrestlers Of The 2020s (So Far)

In the 2020s, Cody Rhodes became The Guy in North American pro wrestling. Not a top guy or in the bracket of top guys but The guy.

When he returned to WWE at WrestleMania 38 in 2022, few could have predicted just how seismic his impact would be. The American Nightmare arrived not just to compete, but to conquer, dragging with him the kind of credibility and aura only born from building something truly special - and that's exactly what he did in AEW.

Before the triumphant homecoming, Cody had been a founding EVP of All Elite Wrestling. In the company’s formative years, he was its beating heart. He helped sell out 2018 All In without a promotion behind it. He dominated proceedings on early pay-per-views, cut impassioned promos that set the tone for AEW’s identity, and had a TNT Title run that briefly made a midcard belt feel like a world championship. But when his AEW narrative reached its natural conclusion, Cody jumped - and took the wrestling world with him.

By the time he dethroned Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 40, WWE was already hotter than it had been in decades. And yet somehow, Cody pushed it even higher. A top merch mover. A consistent ratings draw. A babyface who didn't get booed in the big cities. In a world where John Cena rewrote (and broke) the rules for how a company uses its top guy, Cody tore them apart and remade them from scratch.

Creative visionary, an emotional storyteller, a business magnet and a man with more good matches to his name than many observers ever thought possible; Cody Rhodes is everything WWE spent 20 years pretending it couldn’t have again, and everything pro wrestling desperately needed during the lowest of those times.