Cody Rhodes

Over the following months, Cody attempted to secure a match with MJF, which MJF agreed to do as long as Cody met three stipulations: he could not touch MJF until the match, he would have to defeat MJF's bodyguard Wardlow in a steel cage match, and he would have to take ten lashes with a leather belt. After taking the lashes, Cody defeated Wardlow in a steel cage match on the February 19, 2020 episode of Dynamite to arrange the match for the Revolution pay-per-view. However, Cody was defeated by MJF at the event on February 29.

On March 30, 2020, AEW announced a new title, the AEW TNT Championship; Cody was announced as a participant for an eight-man, single-elimination tournament to crown the inaugural champion. Cody defeated Shawn Spears and Darby Allin to reach the finals of the tournament to face Lance Archer, who also advanced to the finals. At Double Or Nothing on May 23, Cody defeated Archer to become the inaugural TNT Champion; Mike Tyson afterwards presented Cody with the title belt.

On January 1, 2019, Cody unveiled a new promotion, All Elite Wrestling (AEW), in which he, along with Matt and Nick Jackson of The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega, would serve as Executive Vice Presidents and on-air talent. Both Cody and The Young Bucks signed five-year contracts with the promotion. At their inaugural pay-per-view event on May 25, Double or Nothing, Cody defeated his real life half-brother Dustin Runnels. On June 29 at Fyter Fest, Cody wrestled Darby Allin to a time limit draw. After the match, Rhodes was attacked by Shawn Spears and struck with a chair shot that caused Rhodes to bleed heavily from the back of his head. While Rhodes did not suffer a concussion, he did require 12 surgical staples. Spears' actions would be condemned by MJF, Cody's self-proclaimed best friend. MJF would later become Cody's cornerman for his matches.

On September 23, it was confirmed that Cody had signed a multi-year contract with ROH. On December 15 at Final Battle, Cody, now with bleach blonde hair, lost the ROH World Championship to Dalton Castle. On July 21, 2018, he and fellow Bullet Club members The Young Bucks defeated The Kingdom to win the ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Championship, marking his first reign. Cody and The Bucks lost the titles at Survival of the Fittest to The Kingdom on November 4 after a 106 day reign and two successful title defenses. Cody faced Jay Lethal for the ROH World Championship at Final Battle, but he lost the match. The next day, Cody, along with The Elite, left ROH.

In 2017, Dave Meltzer suggested that an independent wrestling show would be unable to sell out a ten thousand seat arena in the United States. Rhodes, along with The Young Bucks, challenged the idea by planning a show specifically for the purposes of drawing ten thousand fans. In May, it was announced that the show would be named "All In" and would be held on September 1, 2018 at the Sears Centre Arena, including many popular wrestlers from various promotions such as Ring of Honor, New Japan Pro Wrestling and the independent circuit. On May 13, 2018, tickets to "All In" sold out in 30 minutes. At the event, Cody defeated Nick Aldis to win the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Cody lost the championship back to Aldis at the NWA 70th Anniversary Show.

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 (Sampson's drug of choice was named Stardust in homage to Rhodes' WWE persona). Rhodes reprised the role on episode 21 of the fifth season of Arrow. In July 2018 Cody announced that his character would be back for a couple of episodes in Season 7 as well.

On November 26 at WrestleCade’s Showcase of Champions, Rhodes defeated Sonjay Dutt for the GFW NEX*GEN Championship. On March 3, 2017, Rhodes appeared for Northeast Wrestling (NEW) in Connecticut, defeating Kurt Angle in a steel cage match. On March 18, 2017, Cody defeated Mike Bennett for the NEW Heavyweight Championship. On December 1, 2017, Rhodes lost the NEW Heavyweight Championship to Flip Gordon in a triple threat match.

On April 29, 2017, at No Regrets, Rhodes lost the WCPW Internet Championship to Gabriel Kidd in a triple threat match also involving Joe Hendry. Later that night, Rhodes took part in a battle royal for the WCPW Championship but was eliminated by Joe Coffey. The following day, Rhodes defeated former WCPW Champion Drew Galloway in his final match with WCPW.

Cody 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. However, after learning Brandi had Moose's phone number, Cody attacked Moose. On the March 30 episode of Impact Wrestling, Cody unsuccessfully faced Moose for the Impact Grand Championship. Rhodes' contract with the promotion ended shortly after.

Following his departure from WWE, Rhodes began wrestling on the independent circuit, also making several appearances in Total Nonstop Action (TNA). In the time frame spanning from early 2016 to early 2017, he competed at WWE's WrestleMania, Ring of Honor (ROH)'s Final Battle and the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) Wrestle Kingdom events as well as appearing for TNA at Bound for Glory. In September 2017, Rhodes wrestled in ROH, where he became a one-time ROH World Champion. He would later become a one-time IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion and a one-time ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champion (with The Young Bucks). In September 2018, he won his first and only NWA World Heavyweight Championship (due to ROH's partnership with the National Wrestling Alliance), becoming the first in which both father and son won the title—at one point during this time, he held the NWA World, IWGP U.S., and ROH Six-Man titles simultaneously.

On June 10, 2016, he made his debut with What Culture Pro Wrestling (WCPW) at the iPPV Refuse to Lose under the ring name Cody Rhodes, defeating Doug Williams. The following day at the 14th episode of Loaded, Rhodes unsuccessfully challenged Joseph Conners for the WCPW Championship. Rhodes faced Kurt Angle at True Legacy in a losing effort. After the match, Rhodes issued a challenge to El Ligero for the WCPW Internet Championship, which Ligero accepted. On November 30 at Delete WCPW, Rhodes defeated El Ligero for the WCPW Internet Championship and retained his GFW NEX*GEN Championship at the same time in a title for title match.

On July 19, 2016, Rhodes announced that he would appear at Ring of Honor's (ROH) Final Battle pay-per-view on December 2. ROH made the official announcement the following day. At the event, Rhodes, who was simply billed as Cody, defeated Jay Lethal following a low blow, then proceed to attack Lethal, senior referee Todd Sinclair, taunted ROH fans and shoved ROH commentator Steve Corino. On the January 18 episode of Ring of Honor Wrestling, Cody defeated Corino. At the Supercard of Honor XI event on April 1, Cody was defeated by Jay Lethal in a Texas Bullrope match. Later in the night, he attacked former ROH World Champion Christopher Daniels. On May 12 at War of the Worlds, Cody unsuccessfully challenged Christopher Daniels for the ROH World Championship in a three-way match also involving Jay Lethal. On June 23 at Best in the World, Cody defeated Daniels to become the new ROH World Champion, marking the first world title of his career. Cody was also billed as the first member of the Rhodes family to capture a world title in 31 years. Cody and Dusty are the second father-son combination to win major world championships in the United States after Fritz and Kerry Von Erich.

On December 10, 2016, Rhodes, billed as "The American Nightmare" Cody, appeared at New Japan Pro-Wrestling's (NJPW) World Tag League finals via video package, announcing himself as the newest member of Bullet Club. On January 4, 2017, Cody defeated Juice Robinson in his debut match at Wrestle Kingdom 11 in Tokyo Dome. Cody returned to NJPW in February during the NJPW and ROH co-produced Honor Rising: Japan 2017 shows. After defeating Michael Elgin at Dominion 6.11 in Osaka-jo Hall on June 11, Cody challenged Kazuchika Okada to a match for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. The match took place on July 1 at G1 Special in USA in Long Beach, California and was won by Okada. On August 13, Cody and Bullet Club stablemate Hangman Page unsuccessfully challenged War Machine (Hanson and Raymond Rowe) for the IWGP Tag Team Championship. He faced Kota Ibushi at Wrestle Kingdom 12 in a losing effort. After Omega interrupted Page to challenge new champion Jay White at The New Beginning in Sapporo, Cody attacked Omega with the help of Page, eventually being stopped by Ibushi. This finally came to a head at the G1 Special in San Francisco on July 7, where Cody unsuccessfully challenged Omega for his newly won IWGP Heavyweight Championship. After the match, as the "BC Firing Squad" of King Haku, Tanga Loa, and Tama Tonga attacked Omega and the rest of Bullet Club, Cody refused to aid the attackers and embraced the Bullet Club members afterward. At Fighting Spirit Unleashed, Cody defeated Robinson to win the IWGP United States Championship, his first championship in New Japan. On October 24, Cody announced that he was no longer affiliated with Bullet Club. Cody's last NJPW appearance was at Wrestle Kingdom 13, where he lost the IWGP United States Championship back to Robinson. On February 7, 2019, his profile was removed from NJPW website.

In early February 2015, Goldust and Stardust were defeated by The Ascension and once again began tensions with Stardust showing his frustrations at Goldust. After the match, Goldust called Stardust "Cody" and Stardust responded by telling Goldust to never refer to him by that name again. On the February 16 Raw, Stardust executed Cross Rhodes on Goldust after a tag match, dissolving the team. He then explained to his father that Cody Rhodes was dead and Dusty may as well be, too. This led to a match between Goldust and Stardust at Fastlane, which Goldust won. Afterwards, Stardust attacked Goldust backstage, while exclaiming to his father that he had killed Cody Rhodes. Stardust also attacked Goldust after Goldust won a match against Adam Rose while pretending to be one of Rose's Rosebuds in a costume suit. The feud officially concluded as Stardust then became involved in the Intercontinental Championship ladder match at WrestleMania 31, which was won by Daniel Bryan.

On the April 6 Raw, Stardust answered John Cena's United States Championship open challenge, but failed to win the title. Stardust was defeated by R-Truth in the 2015 King of the Ring and at the Payback pre-show.

On the September 3 SmackDown, The Ascension aligned themselves with Stardust by attacking Neville before their match, forming the faction "The Cosmic Wasteland". At Night of Champions, they defeated Neville and The Lucha Dragons in a six-man tag team match in the pre-show. After this, they were defeated in every match in which they participated. During the 2015 Slammy Awards, Stardust stole Stephen Amell's trophy for celebrity moment of the year. He then suffered back-to-back losses during his feud with Titus O'Neil, who attempted to convince Stardust to go back to being Cody Rhodes.

Rhodes returned from injury on the December 10 Raw, sporting a mustache, and 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 & 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 next Main Event episode, but were once again defeated by Team Hell No. On the January 7, 2013, 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. On the next SmackDown, Rhodes and Sandow mutually decided to dissolve Team 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.

The following month at Fight for the Fallen, Cody and Dustin Runnels faced the Young Bucks in a losing effort. At All Out on August 31, Cody emerged victorious in a grudge match against Shawn Spears. With this win, Cody improved his win-loss-draw record in singles matches to 2–0–1, granting him a match for the AEW World Championship against champion Chris Jericho at the Full Gear pay-per-view. On the inaugural episode of AEW Dynamite on October 2, Cody defeated Sammy Guevara. On the November 6 episode of Dynamite, Cody announced that if he were to lose at Full Gear, he would never challenge for the AEW world title again. At the pay-per-view on November 9, Cody failed to win the championship from Jericho after MJF threw in the towel. After the match, MJF turned on Cody by kicking him the groin.

In September 2013, Rhodes married fellow professional wrestler Brandi Reed.

Rhodes then feuded with SmackDown commentator Booker T, attacking him from behind on several occasions and successfully retaining the Intercontinental Championship against him at Tables, Ladders & Chairs and on the January 6, 2012 SmackDown. In the 2012 Royal Rumble match, Rhodes lasted over 40 minutes and eliminated more wrestlers than other any other competitor with six, before he was eliminated by The Big Show. At Elimination Chamber Rhodes pinned Show in the World Heavyweight Championship Elimination Chamber match, before being eliminated by Santino Marella. Rhodes spent the following weeks highlighting Show's embarrassing moments in previous WrestleManias, often costing Show to lose matches in the process. At WrestleMania XXVIII, Rhodes lost the Intercontinental Championship to Big Show, ending his near eight-month reign of 233 days.

On January 21, 2011, Rhodes faced Rey Mysterio in a match, during which Mysterio hit Rhodes in the face with his exposed knee brace and legitimately broke Rhodes' nose, which led to Rhodes declaring he was no longer dashing and had required facial reconstructive surgery. Rhodes was off television for several weeks. Upon his return, he wore a clear protective mask over his face and colluded with his father to attack Mysterio and remove Mysterio's mask on the February 25 SmackDown. Rhodes then regularly used his protective mask as a weapon during matches by headbutting opponents and using it to hit his opponents. In 2020, Rhodes said his time as Undashing Cody Rhodes was his second best work as pro wrestlers. Rhodes defeated Mysterio in a match at WrestleMania XXVII on April 3. The duo also faced off in a Falls Count Anywhere match at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view in May, which was won by Mysterio.

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 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 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 led to a triple threat match at WrestleMania XXVI, in which Orton defeated Rhodes and DiBiase.

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 SmackDown, by defeating John Morrison. The following week on SmackDown, Rhodes participated in a tournament for the vacant WWE Intercontinental Championship, but lost to Christian in the semi-finals. Rhodes mentored Husky Harris, a third-generation wrestler, in the second season of NXT.

On the January 12, 2009, Raw, Snuka and Manu gave Rhodes the chance to align with them to attack Orton, along with the returning 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 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 continued working. 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.

In July 2009, Rhodes became one of the faces of the Gillette "Be a Superstar" advertising campaign, along with Chris Jericho and John Cena. "Be a Superstar" was a four-month-long interactive campaign, which featured the wrestlers in numerous videos promoting Gillette Fusion products. In August 2009, Rhodes appeared on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien.

Rhodes has appeared in nine video games: he made his video game debut in WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 and has since appeared in WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2010, WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2011, WWE '12, WWE '13, WWE 2K14 and WWE 2K15 as Cody Rhodes, and in WWE 2K16 and WWE 2K17 under his Stardust gimmick.

After holding the championship for just over a month, they dropped it to John Cena and Batista on the August 4, 2008 episode of Raw. The following week on Raw, DiBiase and Rhodes used their rematch clause to regain the championship. Rhodes and DiBiase were joined by Manu, the son of Afa, in September, forming a stable of multi-generational wrestlers. On the October 27 Raw, Rhodes and DiBiase lost the World Tag Team Championship to Kofi Kingston and CM Punk.

On the November 3, 2008 episode of Raw, Rhodes, DiBiase and Manu entered a storyline with Orton, who constantly criticized and insulted them and attacked DiBiase. At Survivor Series, Rhodes, along with Orton, was a 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.

Shortly afterward, 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 to Burchill the next day. Spears won 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 defeated his rival on July 6 to become the new OVW Television Champion. However, exactly one week later he lost the championship to Spears in a Lumberjack match. Runnels’s last televised match in OVW ended in a no contest as him and Shawn Spears fought in the Steel Cage.

On the July 2, 2007 episode of Raw, Runnels made his television debut, using his family's wrestling last name, 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 was defeated by Orton in his debut WWE match. 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. Rhodes' next storyline was a rivalry with Daivari, after he pinned him on the July 30 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 Title by defeating Paul London and Brian Kendrick and The Highlanders. 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 Raw, Rhodes faced Holly for a fourth time and beat him, although they were both attacked by Randy Orton afterwards. On the Raw 15th Anniversary special episode that aired on December 10, 2007, Rhodes, along with Holly, defeated Lance Cade and Trevor Murdoch for the World Tag Team Championship, marking Rhodes' first championship in WWE. 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. 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 and also become a two-time World Tag Team Champion.

Rhodes is of partial Cuban descent through his maternal grandfather. His father was WWE Hall of Famer "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes and his half-brother is Dustin Runnels, who is better known by his ring name Goldust. On March 31, 2007, Cody and Dustin inducted their father into the WWE Hall of Fame. He also has two sisters, Teil Gergel and Kristin Ditto, who is a former Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader. He is the nephew of former professional wrestlers Jerry Sags and Fred Ottman, as well as the godson of Magnum T.A.

Rhodes is the son of WWE Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes and the half-brother of AEW wrestler Dustin Runnels. After an amateur wrestling career that resulted in him becoming a two-time Georgia state champion, he followed his father and older brother's footsteps into the professional ranks and joined WWE in 2006, initially being assigned to the company's developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW). After becoming a Triple Crown Champion in OVW, he was promoted to WWE's main roster in 2007 and remained there for nine years, performing under his real name and later under the gimmick of Stardust. During his time with WWE, Rhodes became a two-time Intercontinental Champion and was a prolific tag team wrestler, winning six tag team championships (three World Tag Team Championships and three WWE Tag Team Championships) with four separate tag team partners. Rhodes left WWE after requesting his release in May 2016.

Rhodes originally credits his father Dusty Rhodes for starting his wrestling training, when Cody was only 12 years old. However, this was limited mainly to simple fundamentals and taking bumps. From there his training was provided by Al Snow, Danny Davis, Randy Orton and Ricky Morton. Using his birth name Cody Runnels, Rhodes began wrestling in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) in May 2006. His first match was at an OVW live event in Corydon, Indiana on May 13, where he lost to Pat Buck.

Runnels formed a tag team with Shawn Spears in mid-August 2006 and they quickly became embroiled in a feud 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. A rematch between the two teams was held for the vacant championship the following week. 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.

Rhodes is a fan of The Legend of Zelda video game series, incorporates its style in his wrestling gear and has stated he replays A Link to the Past yearly. Rhodes is also a comic book fan and has worn wrestling gear inspired by Archangel and Mister Sinister, characters from X-Men. He has cited Omega Red and Cyclops as his favorite fictional characters along with the Inhumans and he personally owns a game cabinet of the 1992 X-Men arcade game.

Cody Garrett Runnels Rhodes (born Cody Garrett Runnels; June 30, 1985) is an American professional wrestler, promoter, businessman, and actor, better known by the ring name Cody Rhodes or simply Cody. He is an executive vice president of All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he also performs as an in-ring talent and is the inaugural and current AEW TNT Champion.

Rhodes was born Cody Garrett Runnels on June 30, 1985, in Charlotte, North Carolina. He changed his name to Cody Rhodes by the age of 17. Rhodes attended Lassiter High School and had a successful high school wrestling career. He placed sixth in the 171 lb (78 kg) division as a sophomore. As a junior, he won the Georgia state tournament at 189 lb (86 kg) in 2003 and repeated as champion his senior year. He had planned to wrestle collegiately at Penn State University, but decided to become a professional wrestler instead. During his time in high school, Rhodes also acted as a referee in his father's Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling promotion. After graduating high school, Rhodes attended an acting school.

At the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view on October 2, 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. Throughout October, Rhodes continued feuding with Orton, explaining that Orton had mistreated him during their time together as part of Legacy, costing him the World Heavyweight Championship and attacking him. At Vengeance, Rhodes was defeated by Orton in a non-title match. On the November 4 SmackDown, Orton defeated Rhodes in a Street Fight to end the feud; in the process, Orton broke Rhodes' mask. On the November 14 Raw, Rhodes reappeared without his mask, claiming that Orton had set him free, signalling the end of his masked gimmick.