American professional wrestler Cody Rhodes was born in Marietta, Georgia, on June 30, 1985. He is well-known for his long career in professional wrestling organizations, his perseverance as a competitor, his charisma, and his capacity to captivate an audience. He wrestles for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and was an executive vice president and founding member of All-Elite Wrestling (AEW). The Cross Rhodes is one of his hallmark moves.
Runnels was raised in a professional wrestling milieu as the half-brother of WWE superstar Goldust (Dustin Runnels) and the son of the late WWE Hall of Fame wrestler Dusty Rhodes (Virgil Runnels, Jr.). In high school, he participated in conventional wrestling and won the Georgia state tournament in his junior and senior years. He thought about wrestling in college, but ultimately decided to pursue professional wrestling. He started training in 2006, and in June of the same year, he made his debut under his own name with Ohio Valley Wrestling.
He started adopting the family’s in-ring surname, Rhodes, after signing with WWE, the largest wrestling organization in the world, in 2007. In a bout against Randy Orton on July 16, he made his debut on the company’s flagship program, Raw. He and his partner, Hardcore Holly, won a world tag team title in September. He then joined wrestler Ted DiBiase Jr. to create a tag team, and the two of them went on to win championships. Rhodes formed the heel (villainous, or hostile) alliance The Legacy in 2008 alongside third-generation wrestlers DiBiase and Orton.
Rhodes and Drew McIntyre won the unified Tag Team Championship in 2010, achieving tag team success once more. He defeated Ezekiel Jackson to win the Intercontinental Championship in 2011, earning his first solo championship. He held onto the belt until The Big Show pinned him the following year. Rhodes regained the championship following weeks of conflict with The Big Show, but Christian quickly defeated him.
Rhodes and his brother Dustin, who was then known as Goldust in the ring, established a tag team in 2013. Dustin is sixteen years older than the two, thus they had not spent much time together as children. Both competed for their careers and defeated Roman Reigns and Seth Rollins at WWE Battleground 2013. A few weeks later, they won the WWE Tag Team Championship, and they kept the championships till the next year. Rhodes started playing Goldust’s side character in June 2014 as Stardust, a quirky character with more ornate face paint that more closely resembled his brother. The Tag Team Championship was later regained by the two.
Rhodes began a career on the independent professional wrestling circuit after asking WWE to release him in 2016. He competed in companies such as Ring of Honor, Impact Wrestling, and New Japan Pro Wrestling. Since WWE had already registered the name “Cody Rhodes,” he was typically referred to as just “Cody” or “Cody R.” In contrast to his father’s moniker, “The American Dream,” he also adopted the moniker “The American Nightmare” at this period. He competed for and won several championship championships with different businesses.
When Rhodes was wrestling for Ring of Honor in 2017, a professional wrestling commentator joked on Twitter that he didn’t think the event could sell out a 10,000-seat arena. Taking this as a challenge, Rhodes collaborated with his pals from the Ring of Honor, the Young Bucks (Nick and Matt Jackson), to develop the independent program All In. The show’s tickets sold out in less than 30 minutes after going on sale a year after the tweet. All In cleared the path for the 2019 launch of AEW, a promotion designed to compete with WWE. As the production’s co-executive vice presidents, Rhodes and the Jacksons brought in fresh talent. Rhodes also wrestled for AEW on occasion; in 2020, he won the organization’s first TNT Championship and engaged in a rivalry with Shaquille O’Neal, a former NBA great.
Rhodes left AEW in February 2022 after failing to reach an agreement on a new deal. He attracted attention when he made his much awaited comeback to the WWE at WrestleMania 38 against Seth Rollins, six years after leaving the organization. He was unable to participate for the remainder of that year due to surgery after competing in the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view event in June with a torn pectoral muscle.
After winning the 30-man Royal Rumble in January 2023, Rhodes made a comeback and was given the opportunity to face Roman Reigns, the undisputed WWE Universal Champion, for the championship. Reigns defeated Rhodes to keep his historic championship in the event, which took place at WrestleMania 39.
In addition to his career as a professional wrestler, Rhodes has a recurring role in the superhero series Arrow from 2016 to 2018. In addition to serving as a judge on TBS’s extreme talent show Go-Big Show (2021), he and his wife, Brandi, were featured in the 2021 television documentary Rhodes to the Top.
