Cody Rhodes' 10 Best In-Ring Rivals Post-WWE
6. Jay Lethal
Cody Rhodes' highly anticipated debut in Ring Of Honor took place at their version of WrestleMania, Final Battle, in 2016. He couldn't have had a higher profile opponent than Jay Lethal, who has been a cornerstone of the company for several years.
Despite the lack of buildup behind the bout, Cody received a hero's welcome upon entering the Manhattan Center that night. Lethal was also a beloved babyface, so although it was tough for the crowd to choose who they wanted to win more, the exciting action spoke for itself. Cody won with a low blow behind the referee's back and reverted to his roots as a heel in the process.
Their bad blood only escalated from there as they waged war in a Texas Bullrope match at April's Supercard of Honor event and Lethal evened the score. In 2018, they reignited their rivalry over the ROH World Championship, and two years removed from their initial outing, they faced off at Final Battle 2018. Lethal beat Rhodes to retain the ROH World title in what turned out to be the last match of Rhodes' run in ROH.
Lethal and Cody are both big names, and while some of their matches were watered down by interference and/or overbooking, all of them delivered one way or another and captured the attention of fans.