Cody Rhodes Turns Heel In Victorious Ring Of Honor Debut

Former Intercontinental Champion attacks opponent Jay Lethal.

cody rhodes joseph conners
Oli Sandler / The Ringside Perspective

As first announced months ago, Cody Rhodes made his Ring of Honor debut on Friday evening, taking on former ROH World and Television Champion Jay Lethal. Though fans expected a strong showing from the former Intercontinental Champion, they were not anticipating what happened after the bout.

Rhodes's win over Lethal was questionable, as he resorted to a low blow before hitting his Cross Rhodes finisher for the pin. Still, Lethal tried to shake the ROH newcomer's hand after the bout, only to find himself attacked by Rhodes. At that point, former ROH Tag Team Champions The Addiction (Christopher Daniels and Frankie Kazarian) came out, and the trio laid waste to the ringside area.

Rhodes shocked the wrestling world back in May when he announced on Twitter that he had requested his release from WWE. After it was granted the following day, Rhodes explained his frustrations with his "Stardust" character and the company in general, all while stating that he still had much more he wanted to accomplish in wrestling. He also tweeted out an ambitious checklist of dream opponents competing on the independent and international stages.

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Since making his indy debut in August, Rhodes has competed in EVOLVE, participated in PWG's Battle of Los Angeles tournament, beaten Kurt Angle, debuted in TNA, and captured the WhatCulture Pro Wrestling Internet Championship from El Ligero this week at DELETE WCPW.

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You can catch his match with El Ligero and the whole of DELETE WCPW for $6.99 at WhatCulture Extra.

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Scott Fried is a Slammy Award-winning* writer living and working in New York City. He has been following/writing about professional wrestling for many years and is a graduate of Lance Storm's Storm Wrestling Academy. Follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/scottfried. *Best Crowd of the Year, 2013