The Many Faces Of Cody Rhodes - From Worst To Best
1. Neurosis, Masks And Paper Bags
As with many things in professional wrestling, Cody Rhodes' most captivating persona (to date) came about entirely by accident.
During his 'Dashing' phase Cody faced Rey Mysterio and got his nose broken by Rey's exposed knee brace. Cody (the character) was psychologically scarred by this and would claim he was disfigured, wearing a protective mask at all times.
One criticism thrown as WWE sometimes is that their characters have no motivations, nothing driving them, we don't know who they are and why they are doing what it is they are. This evolution of Cody Rhodes gave his character a clear motivation, and the psychological nature of it promised more to come.
Cody took this one step further when he began bringing paper bags to the ring, telling the audience that they were ugly and that they needed to cover up this ugliness. It was this period that also brought forward the glorious insult 'I can literally smell you getting fatter'.
It brought Cody success as well, as he snared his first singles title in the shape of the Intercontinental Championship, defeating Ezekial Jackson for the strap. No you didn't read that wrong -Ezekial Jackson was actually the IC Champ.
The character had a great run, and the mask was promptly retired after Randy Orton broke it in a match. To date, this was the perfect storm for Cody Rhodes, the glorious mixture of acting and wrestling.