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Cody Rhodes may very well be one of the most popular superstars in WWE today, but several years ago he wasn’t experiencing the same level of push or prominence. In 2014, Cody Rhodes became “Stardust”, altering his character and becoming closer to his brother’s “Goldust” persona. This period of Rhodes’ career is often looked back upon as a dark point in his professional wrestling run, but at times hindsight can reveal that certain things may not be as bad as they first seemed. It poses the question of whether there is an argument to claim that Cody Rhodes’ time as Stardust was better than many people say.
Cody Rhodes Put His All Into The Stardust Character
When Cody Rhodes changed his appearance and personality to become the Stardust character, it was at a time in which he and Goldust were suffering from poor momentum, especially in contrast to how hot they were as a duo at the back end of 2013. In 2014, they weren’t as heavily featured and were just another pair in the tag team division, desperately in need of something new. WWE decided that “Stardust” was to be that something new to reinvigorate them as a tandem.
A change was needed, but it could be heavily argued that it shouldn’t have been this, since Cody Rhodes was good enough to get over if given the right tools. Even with him being saddled with a goofy gimmick, dressed in a full bodysuit, and covered in black, gold, and silver paint, Rhodes put his absolute all into the gimmick. He was eccentric, weird, and wonderfully charismatic in this role, trying to take what would have been a terrible concept and making it much better than expected. This is a common trait of the Rhodes family throughout their time in professional wrestling - turning dirt into gold.
Rhodes added many intricacies, talked in a unique way, and changed up his wrestling style to suit the character. He was entertaining when on screen, even with several failed projects and pushes. He added his own uniqueness to great matches at WrestleMania 31 and 32 in multi-man ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship, and he also played the perfect foe for a celebrity crossover when Stephen Amell wrestled in a featured match at SummerSlam 2015, with his relationship with Rhodes bringing him in for an appearance.
Cody Rhodes’ Time As Stardust Was Mostly Negative
Even with those few positives, most of the duration of the Stardust character was simply just not good. After just a few matches, Stardust and Goldust lost their first match as a duo under the new gimmick. They may have won the Tag Team Titles, but their reign wasn’t anything special, losing the gold just a couple of months later before dissension started in their ranks. A feud between the two Rhodes brothers began, which was something that everyone wanted to see, but it was completely botched - both in terms of the content and the match that they had as well.
Although it seemed as though Stardust was going through a personality crisis that would see him once again become Cody Rhodes, he remained as Stardust and became just another member of the roster. He had a few midcard feuds against the likes of Neville which were nothing special, and he attempted to form a faction along with The Ascension which was given no momentum, but had nothing else to shout about over the two years he spent with the gimmick.
Cody Rhodes’ Performance Was Great, But WWE’s Booking Of Stardust Was Dire
Rhodes had requested several times for WWE to change up his gimmick, but this fell on deaf ears until he eventually parted ways with the company due to creative frustration. When looking back at the gimmick, it is clear to see that despite his unhappiness, Rhodes remained professional to give great performances as the Stardust character, even with little to no substantial storylines at any points over those two long years.
However, good performances don’t equate to great content, with WWE themselves needing to do the work to make things entertaining. Unfortunately for Rhodes during this gimmick, not enough was done from WWE to make him a success. It was a torrid time for Rhodes, with it perhaps marking the absolute worst portion of his career - and this is no understatement. He became a glorified jobber under the face paint and bodysuit, with any potential star power being ripped away week after week. He needed to leave WWE and re-establish himself to become a star, and this was due to the damage caused by his time spent as Stardust. To answer the question of whether Stardust was as bad as people claim, it is most definitely a solid yes.
