Cody Rhodes

Cody Runnels (June 30, 1985) is an American professional wrestler and actor, better known by his ring name Cody Rhodes. Runnels is currently signed by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) where he wrestles on its SmackDown brand. He is a four-time World Tag Team Champion, having won the championship once with Hardcore Holly twice with Ted DiBiase and with his brother Goldust.

Ohio Valley Wrestling
Using his real name, Runnels began wrestling in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) in June 2006. Runnels formed a tag team with Shawn Spears in mid-August 2006 and they quickly became embroiled in a scripted rivalry with The Untouchables over the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship. They first captured the championship from The Untouchables on October 18. In November 2006, Runnels and Spears defeated The Untouchables in a tag team match, and won the services of Cherry, The Untouchables' manager. Cherry accompanied Spears and Runnels to ringside, and soon Spears began to fall in love with her, which began interfering with their matches. On November 29, the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship was vacated after a match between The Untouchables and Runnels and Spears ended in a draw. The following week, a rematch between the two teams was held for the vacant championship. During this match Cherry turned on Spears and Runnels, rejoining The Untouchables and helping them regain the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship. Two weeks later, on December 20, Runnels and Spears defeated Deuce 'n Domino in a Street Fight to win the championship for the second time. Shortly afterwards, Runnels and Spears became involved in a scripted rivalry with each other, after Spears became jealous of Runnels' success as a singles wrestler. This rift started when Runnels won the OVW Heavyweight Championship from Paul Burchill at a house show on February 17, 2007, only to lose it back to Burchill the next day. Spears went on to win the OVW Television Championship in response. On April 11, the duo lost the Southern Tag Team Championship to the team of Justin LaRouche and Charles Evans. Runnels went on to defeat his now heated rival on July 6, to become the new OVW Television Champion. Exactly one week later, however, Runnels lost the championship back to Spears.

Debut and teaming with Hardcore Holly (2007–2008)
On the July 2 episode of Raw, Runnels made his television debut, using the ring name Cody Rhodes, in a backstage segment with his father Dusty Rhodes and Randy Orton, where Orton introduced himself to Rhodes and then slapped Dusty as a sign of disrespect. On July 9, Rhodes slapped Orton in return, and the following week, Rhodes faced Orton in his debut WWE match, but lost. Rhodes appeared at The Great American Bash to prevent Orton from further attacking his father. The next night on Raw, Rhodes challenged Orton to a rematch from the previous week, only to lose again. Orton followed this up by kicking Rhodes' father in the head, similar to how he had, in storyline, nearly ended the careers of Shawn Michaels and Rob Van Dam.

Rhodes' next storyline was a rivalry with Daivari, after he pinned him on the July 30 episode of Raw, to keep his job. In the midst of this rivalry, he also feuded with The World's Greatest Tag Team, defeating both members, Charlie Haas and Shelton Benjamin in singles matches. The two feuds combined, when Rhodes, along with Paul London and Brian Kendrick, beat The World's Greatest Tag Team and Daivari in a six-man tag team match. The following week, Rhodes teamed up with Mickie James to defeat Daivari and Jillian Hall, ending their scripted rivalry.

Three weeks later, he began a feud with Hardcore Holly and lost three consecutive matches to him. Rhodes eventually earned Holly's respect, impressing Holly during their matches with his persistence and several near-falls, and the two formed a tag team. They earned a shot at the World Tag Team titles by defeating Paul London and Brian Kendrick and The Highlanders in a WWE.com exclusive match after an Alabama Slam. They fought against the Tag Team Champions Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch at Survivor Series, in what was Rhodes' first on-screen title shot and pay-per-view match, but were unsuccessful. On the November 19, 2007 episode of Raw, Rhodes faced Holly for a fourth time, and beat him for the first time, although they were both attacked by Randy Orton afterwards.

On December 10, 2007, on the Raw 15th Anniversary special episode, Rhodes along with Hardcore Holly defeated Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch for the World Tag Team Championship, marking Rhodes' first championship in WWE. They also successfully defended the championships against the teams of Santino Marella and Carlito and Paul London and Brian Kendrick. In May 2008, Ted DiBiase began feuding with the duo, threatening to take their titles in his first match as part of the Raw brand.

The Legacy (2008–2010)
At the pay-per-view event, Night of Champions on June 29, Rhodes turned on Holly by revealing himself as Ted DiBiase's partner to help DiBiase win the match, becoming a villain. After holding the championship for just over a month, they dropped it to John Cena and Batista on the August 4 episode of Raw. The following week, DiBiase and Rhodes used their rematch clause to regain the championship. Rhodes and DiBiase were joined by Manu, the son of Afa Anoa'i, in September, forming a stable of multi-generational superstars. On the October 27, 2008 episode of Raw, Rhodes and DiBiase lost the World Tag Team Championship to Kofi Kingston and CM Punk.

During this time, Rhodes, DiBiase and Manu entered a storyline with Randy Orton where Orton constantly criticized and insulted them, and attacked DiBiase on the November 3 episode of Raw. At Survivor Series, Rhodes, along with Orton, was a sole survivor, for Orton's team, in the annual Elimination match. Rhodes and Manu accepted Orton's offer for an alliance in the following weeks, and the trio dubbed themselves "The Legacy"; debuting in a two-on-three handicap match against Batista and Triple H. Orton began scheduling tests for The Legacy members, so they could prove themselves, and over two weeks, both Manu and Sim Snuka were kicked out.

On January 12, Snuka and Manu gave Rhodes the chance to align with them to attack Orton, along with the returning Ted DiBiase, but Rhodes refused. As they ambushed Orton, DiBiase instead joined with Orton and Rhodes to attack Snuka and Manu, and became a member of The Legacy. As part of The Legacy, Rhodes entered the Royal Rumble match in order to help Orton win, and lasted until the final three, before being eliminated by Triple H. Rhodes and DiBiase became involved in Orton's scripted rivalry with the McMahon family, helping him to attack Shane and Stephanie McMahon, and Stephanie's real-life husband, Triple H. Rhodes was also elevated to main event status as a result of joining The Legacy, competing in handicap and six-man tag team matches against Orton's opponents and rivals. On April 26, at Backlash, Rhodes, DiBiase, and Orton defeated Triple H, Batista, and Shane McMahon in a six-man tag team match, which, per the pre-match stipulation, resulted in Orton winning the WWE Championship. Rhodes suffered a minor neck injury in June, but did not need any time off to recover. Throughout mid-2009, Rhodes and DiBiase continued to compete against and attack Orton's rivals, especially Triple H. This led to Triple H reforming D-Generation X (DX) with Shawn Michaels, and DX defeated Rhodes and DiBiase at SummerSlam. Rhodes and DiBiase defeated DX at the following pay-per-view, Breaking Point in a submissions count anywhere match, but were defeated in a Hell in a Cell match at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view in October, when Rhodes was pinned following a sledgehammer shot to the head. To sell the injury, Rhodes was taken out of the arena on a stretcher following the match.

Tension within The Legacy became apparent at the 2010 Royal Rumble, when Rhodes attempted to interfere in Orton's match for the WWE Championship. Rhodes was caught by the referee, resulting in a disqualification for Orton, who attacked Rhodes and DiBiase, who had tried to help Rhodes, after the match. On the February 15 episode of Raw, Orton took on Sheamus in a non-title rematch, but was again disqualified after Rhodes and DiBiase interfered. During the WWE Championship Elimination Chamber match at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, Rhodes interfered, passing a lead pipe through the cage to DiBiase. DiBiase hit Orton with the pipe and eliminated him from the match. The next night on Raw, Orton attacked Rhodes and DiBiase during a six-man tag team match, and they attacked Orton the following week in retaliation.

This culminated in a confrontation between the pair and Orton at WrestleMania XXVI where Orton came out victorious, ending the feud.

"Dashing" Cody Rhodes (2010)
As part of the 2010 WWE Supplemental Draft, Rhodes was drafted to the SmackDown brand. He made his debut for the brand on the April 30 episode of SmackDown, by defeating former IC title holder John Morrison in John's final match before his following draft to Raw.

The following week on SmackDown, Rhodes participated in a tournament for the vacant WWE Intercontinental Championship, but lost to Christian in the semi-finals. On June 1, it was announced that Rhodes would be mentoring Husky Harris, a third generation wrestler, in the second season of WWE NXT.

On the June 25 episode of SmackDown, Rhodes began a new narcissistic gimmick, claiming to be the best-looking wrestler in WWE and demanding to be called "Dashing" Cody Rhodes. As part of the gimmick, vignettes began airing in which Rhodes gave 'grooming tips'.

In September, he attacked Christian along with Drew McIntyre after a match, and the duo also attacked Matt Hardy, forming an alliance. At Night of Champions in September, Rhodes and McIntyre captured the WWE Tag Team Championship in a Tag Team Turmoil match, also including The Hart Dynasty, The Usos, Santino Marella and Vladimir Kozlov, and Evan Bourne and Mark Henry.

Cody and Drew eventually lost the titles to the Nexus members John Cena and David Otunga. After naming the Duo "The Dashing Ones" and losing to the team of Big Show and Kofi Kingston, The Dashing Ones was dissolved. Following this, Cody and Drew began to quarrel more. They competed against MVP in a 3 way match for the number one contender to the IC title, but MVP won by pinning Drew. Cody then hassled Manchester about their bad oral hygiene.

Cody was later involved in a 3-way contender's match for the World Heavyweight Title, also involving Big Show and Drew McIntyre. This later became 4-way as Dolph Ziggler was added to the match. After motioning that Dolph wanted to combine forces with Cody to eliminate Big Show from the ring, Dolph ambushed Cody and pinned him to become the #1 contender (he went on to briefly wrest the title from Edge).

Disfigured (2011)
Cody Rhodes had a match against Rey Mysterio where Mysterio's knee brace was exposed and he used it to 619 Cody in the face. Cody then missed both the 2011 Royal Rumble and 2011 Elimination Chamber matches, citing an injury.

Cody later appeared wearing a plastic face mask (which he later accentuated with a black cowl) desiring revenge against Rey. Dusty Rhodes later called the two out, appearing to try and make peace between then. After Cody apologized, Dusty held Rey down allowing Cody to attack Rey unopposed. This led to a series of attacks on Mysterio, and him accepting a Wrestlemania challenge from him.

Leading into Wrestlemania, Cody appeared with new creepy ring music and used his face mask to head butt a series of stars such as Trent Barreta and Chris Masters.

Cody went on to be victorious against Mysterio at Mania. Rey unmasked Cody and head-butted him with his own mask, but Cody had a hidden knee brace and smashed Rey in the face with it.

Cody then tag-teamed with CM Punk the following Raw where they lost to the combined forces of Mysterio and Randy Orton, who had defeated Punk at Mania.



At the August 9, 2011 tapings of the August 12, 2011 edition of SmackDown, Rhodes defeated Ezekiel Jackson to win the WWE Intercontinental Championship, his first singles title with the company. He would then make his first title defense defeating Ezekiel Jackson in a rematch on Smackdown the next week. He then turned on Ted DiBiase after a loss to Randy Orton starting a feud with DiBiase which resulted in an Intercontinental Title match at Night of Champions which Rhodes won.

In September, Rhodes began a feud with his former Legacy leader, Randy Orton. On the September 23 edition of SmackDown, Rhodes defeated Randy Orton by disqualification when Orton took Rhodes' mask off and hit him in the face with it. In a post-match fury, Orton grabbed the timekeeper's bell and struck Rhodes in the side of the head, resulting in a great deal of legitimate bleeding. Orton continued the assault which, due to the program's PG rating, was highly edited in some areas, but in others it was relatively intact. The wound required a reported nine staples. In between his feud with Orton, Rhodes would make three successive Intercontinental title defenses in six days, in a 10-man over the top rope battle royal and against Sheamus. At the Hell in a Cell 2011, Rhodes debuted a new design for the Intercontinental Championship, similar to the classic design with a white look. He then successfully defended the title against John Morrison, which was his third successive title defense in six days. At Vengeance, Rhodes was defeated by Orton. On the November 4 edition of SmackDown, Orton defeated Rhodes again in a Street Fight rematch.

Unmasked and Intercontinental Champion (2011-2012)
On the November 14th edition of RAW SuperShow, Cody Rhodes appeared in a tag team match with Mark Henry against CM Punk and Big Show. On this episode, he debuted a new entrance theme (a remix of the theme from his "Dashing" era) and appeared to have abandoned the mask, and the "Disfigured" gimmick along with it. Rhodes was also a member of Team Barrett at Survivor Series 2011, in which he and Wade Barrett were the only 2 survivors who won the match against Team Orton. Rhodes would later on have a feud with Smackdown commentator, Booker T, attacking him from behind multiple times and successfully retain his WWE Intercontinental Championship against Booker at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs 2011 and on the January 6 episode of Smackdown. In the Royal Rumble 2012, Rhodes came in at #4, lasted over 40 minutes and eliminated 6 other superstars before being the 24th competitor to be eliminated by the Big Show. At the Elimination Chamber 2012, Rhodes failed to capture the World Heavyweight Championship after being eliminated by Santino Marella.For the following weeks, Rhodes would highlight Big Show's embarrassing WrestleMania moments, which would cause Show to lose matches. Rhodes would later defend his title against Big Show at WrestleMania because of a match made by Teddy Long. At WrestleMania XXVIII, Rhodes would lose his Intercontinental title to Big Show, ending his reign of 236 days. After his loss at WrestleMania, Rhodes would go on a short losing streak due to Show distracting him during matches. A couple of weeks after WrestleMania, Rhodes would retain his title against Big Show at Extreme Rules 2012 in a Tables match. On the May 7 episode of Raw, he successfully defended his title against Big Show in a rematch by getting himself counted out.

He lost the title to a returning Christian at Over the Limit 2012 on May 20. At No Way Out, Rhodes failed to regain the Intercontinental Championship from Christian in a rematch. On the June 29 episode of SmackDown, Rhodes and David Otunga were defeated by Christian and Santino Marella in a Money in the Bank qualifying match for the World Heavyweight Championship, due to Otunga being pinned. Afterwards, Rhodes would claim he didn't lose and would demand another chance. Four days later on Super SmackDown Live, The WWE Board of Directors  granted Rhodes another shot and he defeated Christian in a match to earn his spot. However at Money in the Bank, He was unsuccessful as the match was won by Dolph Ziggler. In August, Cody Rhodes restarted a feud with Sin Cara where he was obsessed with unmasking Sin cara, Who he claimed was ugly. However, Sin Cara got the better of Rhodes twice in singles and tag team matches. On September 16 at Night of Champions, Rhodes failed to capture the Intercontinental Championship from The Miz, in a fatal fou-way match also involving Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara.

Teaming and feuding with Damien Sandow (2012–present)
Rhodes then aligned himself with Damien Sandow, attacking Tag Team Champions Team Hell No (Daniel Bryan and Kane) on the September 24 episode of Raw and vowing to become the next champions. The team, now known as the Rhodes Scholars, were entered in a Tag Team Championship tournament and defeated The Usos to advance. On the October 8 episode of Raw, the Rhodes Scholars defeated Santino Marella and Zack Ryder to advance to the finals in the tournament. Ultimately, the Rhodes Scholars defeated Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara on the October 22 episode of Raw to win the tournament and become the number one contenders to the Tag Team Championship. The Rhodes Scholars got their title opportunity against Team Hell No on October 28 at Hell in a Cell, where they won by disqualification, thus Team Hell No retained the title. Rhodes Scholars received another shot at the WWE Tag Team Championship on the November 14 of WWE Main Event, but were defeated by Team Hell No. During the match, 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. Rhodes returned from injury on the December 10 episode of Raw, sporting a mustache, where he and Sandow defeated Primo & Epico, The Prime Time Players (Darren Young and Titus O'Neil), and The Usos in a fatal four-way tag team elimination match to earn the right to face Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara in a number one contender Tables match at TLC: Tables, Ladders &amp; Chairs. Six days later at the pay-per-view, Team Rhodes Scholars defeated Mysterio and Sin Cara to become the number one contenders to the WWE Tag Team Championship. Team Rhodes Scholars received their title shots on the following episode of Main Event, but were again defeated by Team Hell No. On the January 7, 2013, episode of Raw, Team Rhodes Scholars defeated Team Hell No in a non-title match to earn another shot at the WWE Tag Team Championship. The title rematch took place on January 27 at the Royal Rumble, where Team Rhodes Scholars once again failed to capture the tag team titles. Later that night, Rhodes participated in the Rumble match and lasted for twenty seven minutes (the fourth longest of the match), eliminating four men including his half-brother Goldust, before being eliminated by the eventual winner John Cena. On the following episode of SmackDown, Rhodes and Sandow mutually decided to dissolve the Rhodes Scholars and remain "best friends". However, they reunited during the pre-show of Elimination Chamber on February 17, but were defeated by the team of Brodus Clay and Tensai. Rhodes and Sandow then aligned themselves with The Bella Twins as they began feuding with "Tons of Funk" (Brodus Clay and Tensai) and The Funkadactyls (Cameron and Naomi). The two teams were originally booked to face each other in an eight-person mixed tag team match on April 7 at WrestleMania 29, but their match was cut due to time constraints. The match instead took place the following night on Raw, where Tons of Funk and The Funkadactyls emerged victorious. On May 19, during the Extreme Rules pre-show, Rhodes was defeated by The Miz in a singles match.

On July 14 at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view, Rhodes competed in the World Heavyweight Championship Money in the Bank ladder match, but was unsuccessful as the match was won by his tag-team partner Damien Sandow after Sandow turned on Rhodes and threw him off of the ladder just as Rhodes was about to win the match. The following night on Raw, Rhodes attacked Sandow, turning face in the process and dissolving Team Rhodes Scholars. On the July 26 episode of SmackDown, Rhodes stole Sandow's briefcase while Sandow faced Orton in a match and managed to throw the briefcase into the Gulf of Mexico, which infuriated Sandow. The two  met at SummerSlam during which Rhodes beat Sandow.

On August 27, during the opening hour of Raw, Rhodes was originally set to face Fandango. Sandow was present at ringside for commentary when The Miz and Rosa Mendes appeared on stage dressed as Fandango and Summer Rae, mocking them. This caused Fandango to be distracted and defeated by Rhodes who was then attacked by Fandango and soon Sandow. Then The Miz joined the ring to help Rhodes, causing Raw GM Brad Maddox to immediately announce an impromptu tag match between Rhodes and The Miz against Fandango and Sandow. During the match, Fandango walked out on Sandow, appearing on the stage with Rae to watch Rhodes and The Miz close in on the victory.

On the September 2 episode of Raw, Rhodes was told by COO Triple H that if he did not defeat WWE Champion Randy Orton, his job would be in jeopardy; he lost the match and was soon after "fired" by Triple H. In reality, Rhodes was taking time off to get married and go on his honeymoon.

Personal Life
Runnels is the son of Dusty Rhodes as well as the half-brother of WWE superstar Dustin Rhodes, better known by his ring name "Goldust". He also has a sister, Kristin Ditto, who is a former Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader. On March 31, 2007, alongside Dustin, he inducted their father into the WWE Hall of Fame. He is also the nephew of professional wrestlers, Jerry Sags and Fred Ottman, and the godson of Magnum T.A..

His boots featured a Triforce symbol from the The Legend of Zelda series of video games of which he is a fan; he has stated he replays A Link to the Past yearly. Runnels is also a comic book fan and has worn wrestling gear inspired by Archangel, a character from X-Men. He cites Omega Red and Cyclops as his favorite fictional characters, along with the Inhumans.

During September 2013, Rhodes got married to former WWE NXT diva Brandi Reed.

In wrestling

 * Finishing moves
 * Cross Rhodes – 2009–present (Rolling Cutter)
 * The Silver Spoon DDT – 2007–2009; used as a regular move from 2009–present
 * Beautiful Diaster/Disaster Kick – used as a regular move from 2012–present


 * Signature moves
 * Alabama slam – adopted from Hardcore Holly; 2010–present
 * Bulldog, sometimes from the second rope
 * Running Crossbody, sometimes from the top rope
 * Dropkick
 * Knee drop
 * Moonsault
 * Russian legsweep
 * Beautiful Disaster –Springboard kick (2010–present)
 * Sleeper Hold
 * Running knee drop
 * Muscle Buster (2013 - Present)
 * Standing Gourdbuster
 * Inverted Suplex Slam


 * Managers
 * Cherry
 * The Baggers


 * Nicknames
 * "The Dashing One"
 * "The Essence Of Mustashioed Magnificance"
 * "The Son Of A Son Of A plumber"


 * Entrance themes
 * "Out to Kill" by Billy Lincoln (July 2007 – June 2008; March 2010 – July 2010)
 * "Priceless" by Jim Johnston (June 2008 – January 2009)
 * "Priceless" by Jim Johnston (January 2009 – May 2009)
 * "It's a New Day" by Adelitas Way (June 2009 – March 2010)
 * "Smoke &amp; Mirrors" by TV/TV (July 2010 – 2011; used during his "Dashing" gimmick)
 * "Only One Can Judge" by Jim Johnston (March 18, 2011 - November 4, 2011; used under his "Disfigured" gimmick)
 * "Smoke &amp; Mirrors (Remix)" by TV/TV & Jim Johnston (November 14, 2011 – present)

Teams

 * Legacy
 * The Dashing Ones
 * Team Rhodes Scholars

Championships and accomplishments

 * Amateur wrestling
 * Georgia State Tournament
 * Sixth at 171 pounds (78 kg) weight class (2002)
 * Champion at 189 pounds (86 kg) weight class (2003)
 * Champion at 189 pounds (86 kg) weight class (2004)


 * Professional wrestling
 * Ohio Valley Wrestling
 * OVW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
 * OVW Southern Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Shawn Spears
 * OVW Television Championship (1 time)


 * Pro Wrestling Illustrated
 * PWI Most Improved Wrestler of the Year (2008)
 * PWI ranked him #41 of the best 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2010


 * World Wrestling Entertainment
 * World Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Hardcore Holly (1) and Ted DiBiase (2)
 * WWE Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Drew McIntyre & Goldust
 * WWE Intercontinental Championship (2 times)

Trivia

 * For an extended period of time, Cody Rhodes wore a triforce insignia on several pairs of wrestling boots in a variety of colors. Recognition of the Tri-Force by video gamer fans of Nintendo's Legend of Zelda led to him being interviewed where he mentioned being a big fan of the series. These were replaced with plain silver boots upon adapting the 'Dashing' persona.
 * When he became Dashing Cody Rhodes, he added a mirror to the back of his jacket. This resembles the Mirror Shield which Link wears on his back in several of the later Zelda games.