8 Wrestlers Who Couldn't Wait To Ditch Their WWE Gimmicks After Leaving

The second son of the legendary Dusty Rhodes to appear on this list, after leaving the WWE Cody Rhodes has since gone on to be a bonafide main event star, both in Japan and AEW. However, Rhodes' spell in the WWE saw him never quite manage to break through the glass ceiling into the main event as a singles competitor.

The real problems began when Rhodes was rebranded to team up with his brother Dustin as Stardust, an interesting concept that was ultimately hampered by poor creative decisions and a decline in in-ring consistency from the usually ever-reliable Cody.

While Cody made the best of the gimmick, it was clear that to reach the heights that so many had predicted of him, change would need to be in order upon requesting his release from the company in 2016.

Since being freed from the shackles of the Stardust character, Cody has reverted to using his real name, and realised the massive potential that fans had only been treated to glimpses of during his time in the WWE.