Cody Rhodes
- Byname of:
- Cody Garrett Runnels
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Cody Rhodes (born June 30, 1985, Marietta, Georgia, U.S.) is an American professional wrestler known for his extensive history in various professional wrestling promotions, his tenacity as a competitor, his persona, and his ability to win over a crowd. He was a founding member and executive vice president of All-Elite Wrestling (AEW) and wrestles for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). His signature move is the Cross Rhodes.
The son of the late WWE hall of fame wrestler Dusty Rhodes (Virgil Runnels, Jr.) and the half brother of WWE superstar Goldust (Dustin Runnels), Runnels grew up in a professional-wrestling environment. He pursued traditional wrestling in high school, winning the Georgia state tournament in both his junior and senior years. Although he considered continuing to wrestle in college, he turned to professional wrestling instead. He began training in 2006 and made his debut with Ohio Valley Wrestling in June that year under his own name.
In 2007 he signed with WWE, the world’s biggest wrestling promotion and began using the family’s in-ring surname Rhodes. He made his debut on the company’s flagship show Raw on July 16 in a match against Randy Orton. In September, with partner Hardcore Holly, he claimed a world tag team title. He went on to form a tag team with wrestler Ted DiBiase Jr., with whom he also won championship titles. In 2008 Rhodes teamed up with DiBiase and Orton, both third-generation wrestlers, to form the heel (villainous, or antagonistic) stable The Legacy.
In 2010 Rhodes again attained tag team glory, winning the unified Tag Team Championship alongside Drew McIntyre. In 2011 he earned his first solo title, defeating Ezekiel Jackson to win the Intercontinental Championship, which he retained until he was pinned by The Big Show the following year. After several weeks of feuding with The Big Show, Rhodes won the title back, but he soon lost it to Christian.
In 2013 Rhodes formed a tag team with his brother Dustin, then known in-ring as Goldust. The two had not spent much time together growing up, as Dustin is 16 years older. The pair wrestled for the fate of their careers and won at WWE Battleground 2013 against Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins. They went on to win the WWE Tag Team Championship a few weeks later and retained the titles until the following year. In June 2014 Rhodes began appearing alongside Goldust as the character Stardust, an eccentric persona with elaborate face paint that better matched that of his brother. The pair went on to recapture the Tag Team Championship.
After requesting a release from WWE in 2016, Rhodes pursued a career on the independent professional-wrestling circuit, performing in promotions including New Japan Pro Wrestling, Impact Wrestling, and Ring of Honor. As the name “Cody Rhodes” had been trademarked at that point by WWE, he was generally billed as simply “Cody” or “Cody R.” During this time he also took on the sobriquet “The American Nightmare,” a contrast to his father’s nickname “The American Dream.” He contested and won various championship titles with a variety of companies.
In 2017 a professional-wrestling pundit quipped on Twitter that he did not think Ring of Honor, for which Rhodes was wrestling at the time, could sell out a 10,000-seat arena. Rhodes accepted this as a challenge and teamed up with Ring of Honor friends the Young Bucks (Nick and Matt Jackson) to produce an independent show called All In. Tickets for the show, which went on sale a year after the tweet, sold out in less than thirty minutes. All In paved the way for the creation of AEW in 2019, a promotion meant to rival WWE. Rhodes and the Jacksons served as co-executive vice presidents of the production, bringing in new talent. Rhodes also wrestled occasionally for AEW, notably winning its inaugural TNT Championship in 2020 and feuding with former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal.
In February 2022 Rhodes parted ways with AEW after not coming to terms on a new contract. Six years after his exit from WWE, he turned heads in a much-anticipated return to the company during WrestleMania 38 against Seth Rollins. He notably competed with a torn pectoral muscle at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view event in June and afterward required surgery that left him unable to compete for the rest of that year.
Rhodes made his return in January 2023, winning the 30-man Royal Rumble, which earned him a shot at a title match with reigning undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns. The match was contested at WrestleMania 39, where Reigns managed to defeat Rhodes to retain his historic title.
In addition to his professional-wrestling career, Rhodes appeared as an actor on television in a recurring role on the superhero show Arrow (2016–18). He and his wife, Brandi, were the subject of a 2021 television documentary show Rhodes to the Top, and he served as a judge on TBS’s extreme talent show Go-Big Show (2021– ).