95 Facts About Cody Rhodes

Cody Garrett Runnels Rhodes was born on June 30,1985 and is an American professional wrestler.

Cody Rhodes is known for his time in All Elite Wrestling, where he was a co-founder and Executive Vice President from the company's launch in 2019 until his departure in 2022.

Cody Rhodes adopted various gimmicks under his real name before being repackaged as a melodramatic spin-off of Dustin's Goldust character named Stardust.

Cody Rhodes wrestled for promotions such as Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, New Japan Pro-Wrestling, and Ring of Honor.

Cody Rhodes joined WWE's main roster in 2007 and throughout his WWE career, became a two-time Intercontinental Champion and a prolific tag team wrestler, winning eight world tag team championships with five separate partners; his fourth Raw Tag Team Championship and one SmackDown Tag Team Championship were held together as the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship.

In January 2019, Cody Rhodes was named as an executive vice president of the newly formed AEW, where he would wrestle.

Cody Rhodes then won both the 2023 and 2024 men's Royal Rumble matches, becoming the fourth wrestler to achieve back-to-back victories at the event and the first since "Stone Cold" Steve Austin.

Cody Rhodes has headlined WrestleMania four times.

At WrestleMania XL, Cody Rhodes won his first world championships in WWE by becoming the Undisputed WWE champion, holding both the WWE and WWE Universal Championships, in the process becoming a WWE Triple Crown winner.

Cody Rhodes topped Pro Wrestling Illustrateds PWI 500 list of top 500 male wrestlers in the world in 2024.

Cody Rhodes was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, on June 30,1985, the son of Michelle Rubio and professional wrestler Dusty Cody Rhodes.

Cody Rhodes is of Cuban descent through his maternal grandfather.

Cody Rhodes has a sister named Teil in addition to his paternal half-brother and fellow professional wrestler Dustin and a paternal half-sister named Kristin, who is a former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader.

Cody Rhodes legally changed his surname to "Runnels Rhodes" as a teenager.

Cody Rhodes grew up in Georgia and went to Lassiter High School in Marietta, where he had a successful high school wrestling career.

Cody Rhodes had planned to wrestle collegiately at Penn State University, but decided to become a professional wrestler instead.

Cody Rhodes formed a tag team with Shawn Spears in mid-August 2006 and won the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship twice.

Cody Rhodes won the OVW Heavyweight Championship and the OVW Television Championship.

Cody Rhodes made his main roster in-ring debut losing to Randy Orton via pinfall on the July 16,2007, episode of Raw.

Cody Rhodes appeared at The Great American Bash to prevent Orton from further attacking his father.

The next night on Raw, Cody Rhodes challenged Orton to a rematch from the previous week, only to lose again.

Tension within The Legacy became apparent at the 2010 Royal Rumble, when Cody Rhodes attempted to interfere in Orton's match for the WWE Championship.

Cody Rhodes mentored Husky Harris, a third-generation wrestler, in the second season of NXT.

Cody Rhodes would participate in the SmackDown Money in the Bank ladder match at the first ever Money in the Bank pay-per-view event but was unsuccessful as the match was won by Kane.

Cody Rhodes was extremely protective of his face during matches; if he was hit in the face, he threw a fit and checked his mirror.

In 2020, Rhodes said his time as Undashing Cody Rhodes was his second most successful work as a pro wrestler.

Cody Rhodes demanded the audience to put on the paper bags on their heads to cover their ugliness and imperfections, because they offended him.

Cody Rhodes put paper bags over several of his opponents' heads after matches with them.

At the second annual Money in the Bank pay-per-view, Cody Rhodes participated in the SmackDown Money in the Bank ladder match, but was unsuccessful as Bryan won the match.

At the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view on October 2, Cody Rhodes debuted a new design for the Intercontinental Championship, which included a white strap and plates similar to the title's classic 1980s design, before successfully defending it against John Morrison.

At Vengeance, Cody Rhodes was defeated by Orton in a non-title match.

At Survivor Series, Cody Rhodes was sole survivor alongside Team Captain Wade Barrett in their traditional Survivor Series match against Team Orton.

At Elimination Chamber Cody Rhodes pinned Big Show in the World Heavyweight Championship Elimination Chamber match, before being eliminated by Santino Marella.

Cody Rhodes spent the following weeks highlighting Big Show's embarrassing moments in previous WrestleManias, often costing Big Show to lose matches in the process.

At WrestleMania XXVIII, Cody Rhodes lost the Intercontinental Championship to Big Show, ending his near eight-month reign of 233 days.

Four weeks after losing the title, Cody Rhodes regained it at Extreme Rules by defeating Big Show in a Tables match.

Two weeks later at Over the Limit, Cody Rhodes lost the Intercontinental Championship to the returning Christian.

Cody Rhodes would go on to lose to Christian in a rematch for the title at No Way Out.

Four days later on Super SmackDown Live, the WWE Board of Directors granted Cody Rhodes another shot and he defeated Christian to earn a spot in the match.

The team, now known as "Cody Rhodes Scholars", won a Tag Team Championship tournament to become the number one contenders to the Tag Team Championship, but they were defeated by the champions twice.

Cody Rhodes suffered a concussion and a strained shoulder, resulting in him being removed from his traditional five-on-five tag team match at Survivor Series.

In September 2013, Rhodes started a storyline with his brother against Triple H After Rhodes was defeated by Orton, he was fired in storyline.

In return, the vengeful Cody Rhodes brothers gatecrashed Raw by attacking The Shield.

Cody Rhodes teamed with his brother to defeat RybAxel that night and then at both Money in the Bank and on Raw.

On May 21,2016, Cody Rhodes revealed on Twitter that he had requested his release from WWE, which was officially granted the following day.

Cody Rhodes cited frustrations with WWE's creative department and his position within the company as the reasons for requesting his release, noting that he had "pleaded" with writers to end the Stardust gimmick for over six months and pitched numerous storyline ideas which had been ignored.

James Caldwell of Pro Wrestling Torch wrote that Cody Rhodes "had been floundering as the Stardust character over the past year or so, mostly landing on Superstars or Main Event".

In September 2019, Cody Rhodes revealed WWE Executive Vice President Triple H's reaction to his WWE departure, where Cody Rhodes stated:.

Cody Rhodes wrestled for the Northeast Wrestling promotion, most notably facing Kurt Angle in a Steel Cage match.

Cody Rhodes participated in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla's Battle of Los Angeles tournament, where he Rhodes was eliminated from the tournament in the quarterfinals by eventual winner Marty Scurll.

Cody Rhodes won the Global Force Wrestling' GFW NEX*GEN Championship when he defeated Sonjay Dutt.

On July 19,2016, Cody Rhodes announced that he would appear at Ring of Honor's Final Battle pay-per-view on December 2.

Cody Rhodes faced Jay Lethal for the ROH World Championship at Final Battle, but he lost the match.

Cody Rhodes was expected to work events for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling while simultaneously working in ROH, both deals being non-exclusive.

Cody Rhodes returned on the February 23,2017, episode of Impact Wrestling, calling out Moose to thank him for helping his wife Brandi while he was away.

On December 10,2016, Cody Rhodes, billed as "The American Nightmare", appeared at New Japan Pro-Wrestling's World Tag League finals via video package, announcing himself as the newest member of Bullet Club.

On January 4,2017, Cody Rhodes defeated Juice Robinson in his debut match at Wrestle Kingdom 11 in Tokyo Dome.

Cody Rhodes returned to NJPW in February during the NJPW and ROH co-produced Honor Rising: Japan 2017 shows.

Cody Rhodes faced Kota Ibushi at Wrestle Kingdom 12 on January 4,2018, in a losing effort.

At Fighting Spirit Unleashed, Cody Rhodes defeated Robinson to win the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship, his first championship in NJPW.

At Wrestle Kingdom 13 on January 4,2019, Cody Rhodes lost the United States Heavyweight Championship back to Robinson.

On January 1,2019, All Elite Wrestling was unveiled during a conference in Jacksonville, with Cody Rhodes revealing that he, along with Matt and Nick Jackson of The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega, would serve as Executive Vice Presidents, as well as on-air talent.

Spears' actions would be condemned by MJF, Cody Rhodes's self-proclaimed best friend.

Cody Rhodes defeated Shawn Spears and Darby Allin to reach the finals of the tournament to face Lance Archer, who advanced to the finals.

Subsequently, it was reported that Cody Rhodes would be taking up a leave of absence from the company.

At Full Gear, Cody Rhodes teamed up with Pac against Black and Andrade El Idolo in a winning effort.

At the Beach Break event on January 26,2022, Cody Rhodes lost the title back to Guevara in a highly acclaimed ladder match.

Cody Rhodes has cited since that he left AEW because of a personal issue.

On March 18,2022, it was reported by multiple sources that Cody Rhodes had re-signed with WWE.

Cody Rhodes subsequently defeated Rollins once more in a rematch at WrestleMania Backlash.

Ahead of their Hell in a Cell match at the eponymous event, Cody Rhodes suffered a legitimate pectoral muscle tear, which had eventuated halfway through a brawl on the prior episode of Raw.

The injury was exacerbated when the muscle tore entirely off the bone while Cody Rhodes was weight training in the days preceding the event.

Cody Rhodes entered Hell in a Cell with a massive spot of discolored skin, but despite the severe injury, managed to defeat Rollins for the third time in a critically acclaimed match.

Four days later, it was announced that Cody Rhodes underwent successful surgery to repair a torn right pectoral tendon, rendering him unable to compete for eight months.

Cody Rhodes definitively ended their feud by defeating Lesnar at SummerSlam.

The Rock then appeared and confronted Reigns, with Cody Rhodes shaking The Rock's hand and leaving the ring to Reigns and The Rock.

On Night 2, Cody suffered interferences from Bloodline members Jimmy Uso, Solo Sikoa, and The Rock, who were each countered by Rhodes allies Jey Uso, John Cena, Rollins, and The Undertaker.

Cody Rhodes ultimately defeated Reigns for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship to finish his story and capture his first world title in WWE.

Cody Rhodes would defend the title against AJ Styles at Backlash France in a match that received a 5-star rating by Dave Meltzer, and Logan Paul at King and Queen of the Ring.

Cody Rhodes retained the title against Styles at Clash at the Castle in an "I Quit" match.

Cody Rhodes successfully defended the title against Sikoa at SummerSlam in a Bloodline Rules match after interference from the returning Reigns.

Cody Rhodes would defend the title against Owens at Bash in Berlin.

In July 2009, Cody Rhodes became one of the faces of the Gillette "Be a Superstar" advertising campaign, along with Chris Jericho and John Cena.

Cody Rhodes guest-starred on Arrow in the fifth-season episode "A Matter of Trust" playing Derek Sampson, a drug dealer turned metahuman with the inability to feel pain.

Cody Rhodes reprised the role on episode 21 of the fifth season of Arrow.

In July 2018, Cody Rhodes announced that his character would return for Season 7; he appeared in five episodes during the season.

Cody Rhodes voiced a fictionalized version of himself in the first episode of the 2023 animated series Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix.

Cody Rhodes appears in AEW Fight Forever, even though he left AEW before the game was released.

Cody Rhodes is the cover star for the WWE 2K24 Standard Edition and Cross Gen editions of the game.

On July 17,2024, it was revealed that Cody Rhodes would be one of three WWE wrestlers who would be added to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III as playable multiplayer operators, alongside Rey Mysterio and Rhea Ripley.

In September 2013, Cody Rhodes married ring announcer and former wrestler Brandi Reed.

Cody Rhodes is an avid gamer and a big fan of both The Legend of Zelda and Metal Gear video game series, incorporating their styles into his wrestling gear.

Cody Rhodes has stated that he replays A Link to the Past yearly and that his favorite game in the series is Ocarina of Time, which he has proclaimed is his favorite video game of all time, with a close second being Metal Gear Solid.

Cody Rhodes is a comic book fan and has worn wrestling gear inspired by X-Men characters Archangel and Mister Sinister.

Cody Rhodes has cited Omega Red and Cyclops as his favorite fictional characters, along with the Inhumans, and revealed that he owns a game cabinet of the 1992 arcade game X-Men.