On Could 28, 2016, six days after WWE confirmed they had been granting Cody Rhodes’ launch, Rhodes posted an image of a guidelines on Twitter and set minds racing throughout wrestling fandom. The guidelines was an inventory of objectives Rhodes had as he left WWE and hit the then-hot world of impartial wrestling. The journey that adopted not solely elevated Rhodes to his present standing as one of many greatest stars in wrestling — he’ll headline his second consecutive WrestleMania this coming weekend — however modified your entire wrestling panorama.

Rhodes requested his launch from WWE in 2016 as he’d grown more and more annoyed by his course within the firm. He’d gone from a considerably featured participant on the midcard to the character of Stardust, which unintentionally turned one thing of a joke. Fairly that driving out a contract that paid him properly, Rhodes selected to exit into the wild and show he was nearly as good as he believed he was.

Within the Peacock documentary “American Nightmare: Changing into Cody Rhodes,” Rhodes mentioned one of many experiences that cemented the conclusion that issues weren’t going to get higher if he stayed with WWE.

“I used to be prepared to inform the story of changing into Cody Rhodes once more and that wasn’t even on their radar,” Rhodes stated of a interval following the dying of his father, the late Dusty Rhodes. “That is the top of the Stardust chapter. I am pondering there will be one other factor. This is similar firm that has raised me. They’re completely going to have one thing new for me to dive into. Now what? And now what was an entire lot of nothing.

“I keep in mind writing so many emails, like, ‘Reset me.’ At one level, I went to speak to one of many writers and so they ignored me. They really did the hand shun and so they had been typing on their laptop computer. I leaned in and seemed and the laptop computer was powered off.”

Rhodes did not go half-way as soon as he was granted his launch. In 2017, his first full calendar yr after leaving WWE, Rhodes wrestled 119 matches, simply 29 greater than he’d wrestled for WWE and their notoriously troublesome journey schedule in 2015.

Rhodes was touring the world, wrestling in Japan’s Tokyo Dome and in Knights Of Columbus halls in Ontario as he proved his level that he was a draw and a workhorse who had been badly mishandled by WWE throughout his first run with the corporate. Rhodes was a star and if WWE did not see that, he’d pressure them to open their eyes.

Rhodes’ time on the indies constructed to a crescendo with All In. After wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer responded to a reader that Ring of Honor, one in all Rhodes’ main impartial wrestling houses, could not promote 10,000 tickets to an occasion “any time quickly,” Rhodes took up the problem.

Rhodes labored with The Younger Bucks to place collectively All In, which was related to ROH but additionally partially self-funded by the wrestlers. The occasion was scheduled for Sept. 1, 2018 within the Chicago suburbs and was loaded with lots of the greatest names not signed to WWE.

Placing on the occasion was an enormous threat that additionally carried the potential for embarrassment for all concerned if tickets failed to maneuver.

“We had been making an attempt to go on the positioning to purchase tickets, and I am pondering, ‘If the positioning is frozen, we’re screwed,’ or, ‘Is it blowing up? Can it crash?'” Rhodes stated on “Dale Obtain” with Dale Earnhardt Jr. “It crashed instantly. It was 11,236 in 28 minutes. I stated, ‘We’d like this,’ that welcome to the Indies letter. ‘It may be larger.’ I wish to suppose massive. It was all in entrance of us, and we needed to execute and make it occur. An exquisite reminiscence.”

The success of All In, which additionally reportedly drew round 50,000 pay-per-view buys, proved that massive exhibits might exist outdoors of WWE and laid the inspiration for the creation of All Elite Wrestling, which was based by Tony Khan and included Rhodes and The Younger Bucks (in addition to wrestler Kenny Omega) as govt vice presidents.

AEW grew with Rhodes as one of many centerpieces of pay-per-views and, finally, weekly cable tv exhibits. Whereas AEW has not reached the heights of WWE, it has emerged as a serious second American wrestling promotion, with 5 hours of weekly tv and a number of yearly pay-per-view occasions.

As Rhodes’ contract with AEW expired, that unfinished enterprise in WWE — each for himself and his late father — drew him again dwelling.

Rhodes had performed a lot in just a few years, taking his profession into his personal arms and proving he was a sufficiently big star to alter your entire wrestling panorama. Now got here the time to show he might be that famous person on the largest stage.

Coming dwelling

Rhodes’ return as Seth Rollins’ thriller opponent at WrestleMania 38 noticed the gang reply in a vogue that matched what Rhodes had earned in his time away. However there have been lots who did not imagine Rhodes would proceed to be seen the identical means as soon as the freshness of his return wore off.

“I obtained so many individuals after I first got here again, like, ‘Hey, they’re going to be booing him in two months. Oh, they’re going to be booing him in a yr,'” Rhodes instructed ESPN. “I’ve the privilege, but additionally the burden of, I am taking part in myself. This can be a actual story. My father, I needed him to be WWF Champion.

“I nonetheless have that title. And the truth that he did not get it and I felt he deserved it. And in his absence, after he handed, you hear a lot about him now. It is that one little piece that nags at me, that is actually ending the story.”

“End the story” has been Rhodes’ mantra since his WWE return. His father had a legendary profession, however the WWE championship eluded him. Rhodes is searching for to complete his personal story of leaving WWE and coming again to change into champion, but it surely’s additionally the story of his household, a wrestling dynasty whose accomplishments have carried the asterisk of none ever being the highest man within the enterprise as soon as WWF decimated wrestling’s territory system within the Eighties.

Rhodes’ momentum has not lessened since he returned to WWE, even when harm threatened a serious setback.

As Rhodes was in the midst of a feud with Rollins, he was lifting weights within the gymnasium when his pectoral muscle — initially torn throughout a section on WWE Uncooked — got here off the bone. Rhodes went forward along with his Hell in a Cell match with Rollins, wrestling the match with the best facet of his chest and far of his proper arm a deep shade of purple.

Rhodes gained the match, which drew rave evaluations from followers and media members, earlier than being sidelined after surgical procedure to restore the torn muscle. However Rhodes gutting by the match — and delivering one of many best matches in trendy WWE historical past — additional cemented himself as WWE’s high babyface star.

Rhodes returned on the 2023 Royal Rumble, successful the match and punching his ticket to a match with undisputed WWE common champion Roman Reigns in the principle occasion of WrestleMania 39.

Every thing had come collectively for Rhodes to complete the story. He was the most well liked babyface on the planet and had an ideal rival within the dastardly Reigns — all the time flanked by “The Bloodline,” a set of his members of the family from one other wrestling dynasty, the Anoa’i household — who was driving the wave of an historic championship run.

Besides it wasn’t to be.

Rhodes misplaced the match, cheated by The Bloodline, as has virtually all the time been the case throughout Reigns’ greater than 1,300 days as world champion. Fan response was primarily a mixture of shock and anger. They’d been on the journey with Rhodes and it felt the timing was excellent for him to have his second.

WWE chief content material officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque spoke to the media within the aftermath of WrestleMania 39, addressing the choice to have Reigns retain the championship.

“For lots of people this was a surprising final result,” Levesque stated. “What I’ll say about that’s that it is all the time attention-grabbing to me when individuals say, ‘How might that occur?’ or ‘How might they try this in that second?’ It is virtually completely spelled out on this story. ‘I want to complete the story.’ In WWE, the story by no means finishes. Tomorrow night time on Uncooked, it is offered out Crypto Enviornment, the story continues. The story takes one other chapter, we simply obtained to the top of one other chapter however the story continues and that is the place this will get attention-grabbing to me. That’s what’s probably the most wonderful factor about this enterprise, the story by no means ends.”

Levesque’s phrases did not quiet the criticism from followers however they had been left in the identical place as Rhodes, with nothing to do however transfer ahead and hope the eventual payoff can be well worth the wait.

That payoff might come on Sunday, when Rhodes rematches Reigns in Evening 2 of WrestleMania 40, although that match virtually obtained pushed apart after Rhodes gained his second consecutive Royal Rumble this previous January.

Many elements went right into a close to shift to Reigns vs. The Rock, quite than Rhodes.

CM Punk, who returned to WWE on the 2023 Survivor Sequence after a contentious cut up with AEW and was doubtless set for an enormous match with world heavyweight champion Seth Rollins at WrestleMania, suffered a torn triceps muscle within the Royal Rumble, taking him out of plans for the speedy future. This got here simply days after Vince McMahon was compelled to resign from WWE after one other spherical of allegations of sexual assault and reported investigations by federal legislation enforcement.

On the similar time The Rock returned to WWE, becoming a member of the TKO board of administrators amid rekindled curiosity in a long-teased showdown with Reigns, his cousin.

Regardless of instantly pointing at Reigns after successful the Rumble, Rhodes instantly appeared to alter course and deferred to The Rock on an episode of SmackDown.

As soon as once more, followers revolted towards the thought of Rhodes’ second being taken away. #WeWantCody trended on X for days as The Rock, one of many greatest stars in wrestling historical past, was loudly booed at WWE occasions. It was an excessive amount of to disregard and WWE pivoted again to the unique plan, having The Rock flip heel and be a part of forces with Reigns.

Rhodes, who as soon as could not even command the eye of a single WWE author, had change into such a star that a whole writing group needed to pivot the plans for one of many greatest exhibits in WWE historical past to put him again in the principle occasion. First, nonetheless, Rhodes will group with Rollins to face The Rock and Reigns in a tag match on Evening 1 of the occasion, with the end result figuring out the foundations for Rhodes vs. Reigns on Evening 2.

Whereas Levesque could also be appropriate that the story by no means finishes in WWE, Rhodes’ story of going from WWE afterthought to simple champion ought to attain its conclusion on Sunday night time.