Cody Rhodes is an amazing performer. He is one of the most underrated and underutilized talents in the WWE today. The fact that he transitioned to Stardust by reinventing nearly his entire move set is nothing short of mesmerizing. He has completely devoted himself to the Stardust character, giving it his all even while creative has continually disappointed him. The fact is, we all knew there was a shelf life on that character the moment he trotted out in the get-up. The only person who didnt get the memo was Cody himself. Originally teaming up with his half-brother, Goldust, Stardust offered an even zanier take on the character his sibling made into a star. The two inevitably split ways, and their storyline was never given a distinct feeling of finality. Ever since, Stardust has been lost in a sort of purgatory, sometimes aligning himself with the doomed-out-of-the-gate Ascension in a supervillain semi-stable. It could work, but you only have one chance to make a first impression, and theirs fizzled upon the thud of its arrival. Codys been straddled with so many gimmicks that its hard to keep up. He was thrust into tag teams with the likes of Ted DiBiase Jr. and Damien Sandow; he grew out a mustache and made an entire character out of it; he wore a mask over his face as a disfigured monstrosity. Kudos to him, as hes given every last one of these characters his all. Unfortunately for him, none of them truly stuck. When he was within inches of winning the Money in the Bank, the crowd was boiling over, meaning Cody Rhodes himself might just be the star we've been looking for. He had an out as Stardust when his father passed away, and he chose to stay the course in order to not receive a cheap push on the death of a loved one. It was a brave and righteous decision, and one that should be applauded. Its time to end Stardust as a character, give Cody a vacation, and bring him back as an upper-mid-card babyface to feud with the likes of Kevin Owens.
David McCutcheon is an American freelance journalist and writing consultant. Over the course of sixteen years, he has written for the likes of IGN, Future US, GamesRadar, PlayStation Magazine, Shout! Factory, and many others in the fields of video games, movies, and more. He lives in St. Louis, Missouri with his wife. You can find him on Twitter @ZoopSoul.
