There have been many masters of reinvention over the years in professional wrestling, and Cody Rhodes is no doubt one of them. Throughout his career and across several promotions like WWE, AEW, ROH, and NJPW, there have been different versions of Cody Rhodes that fans have witnessed.

Not all of these versions have been a hit, and when looking at ranking his versions from worst to best, some really stand out as stinkers. There have, however, been some truly brilliant gimmicks, with Rhodes showing a wonderful ability to portray completely different characters and make it work. Which one is the best though?

UPDATE: 2024/04/23 17:30 EST BY ANDREW KELLY

Cody Rhodes' current version may very well end up being his final form. Given the success of his WWE return which has seen him ascend to levels only a few wrestlers have ever reached, the likeliness of a different version of Rhodes emerging becomes slimmer and slimmer. This renewed look at Rhodes' versions will add a few more details about the former runs he had, whilst also taking a look at Rhodes' character at the start of his AEW run, which was omitted due to its similarity to the current version of Rhodes. The longer time has gone on, there are more differences between these versions, so it makes sense for that to now have its own place on this list.

12 Cody Rhodes Was A Rookie Babyface At The Start Of His WWE Run

Cody Rhodes Debuted As A Basic Babyface

• Cody Rhodes was treated like a kid when he first arrived
• He was as basic as you can get as a babyface
• He competed in WWE's tag team division

By far the worst version of Cody Rhodes was the very first. Rhodes wasn’t necessarily bad here, but there was just absolutely no depth and nothing to this.

Rhodes was the rookie sidekick of Hardcore Holly in the tag team division. They got very little attention, not much mic time, and were about as basic as you can be as an act. It wasn’t terrible, but it had so little to give it any sort of argument to be anywhere other than bottom of this list. The only highlight was when Rhodes turned heel and ended this version of himself.

11 Cody Rhodes As A Moustached Heel In Team Rhodes Scholars Was Average

Cody Rhodes Was Partners With Damien Sandow

• Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow were thrown together in a tag team
• They spent far too long together in this act that went nowhere
• A planned WrestleMania 29 match was canceled on the day of the show

This is along the same lines of his rookie babyface act. Cody Rhodes in the Rhodes Scholars was fine, but his character has such little depth to it beyond just being a typical cocky heel.

Rhodes and Damien Sandow were a good act with decent chemistry, but WWE never fully explored their potential, and this is another reason as to why this is ranked so far down in terms of versions of Rhodes. They were an afterthought of the tag team division, never holding gold or having a memorable feud.

10 Cody Rhodes Was A Pandering Tweener Mess In AEW

Cody Rhodes’ AEW Career Went Downhill

• Cody Rhodes' feud with Anthony Ogogo turned fans against him
• His rivalry with Malakai Black sent fans into a crazed frenzy
• Rhodes' direction in AEW may have been a reason for him leaving

Cody Rhodes’ AEW career went off the rails when fans saw right through the “pandering American hero” gimmick that just wasn’t working. This led to Rhodes walking the line of being heel, with many “wink, winks” and breaking kayfabe when it came to him refusing a clear heel turn.

It was certainly interesting, but the execution ultimately felt super awkward and the whole thing was off. It led to months of strange promos, uncertain crowds, and a clearly unhappy Rhodes, who ended up leaving AEW at the end of his contract.

9 Stardust Was The Final Nail In Cody Rhodes' First WWE Run

Cody Rhodes Put His All Into Stardust

• WWE turned Cody Rhodes into a joke
• His gimmick took influence from his brother, Goldust
• Cody Rhodes' recent WWE return had the promise of never doing this character again

There is no denying that Cody Rhodes made “Stardust” entertaining. His promos were quirky, his mannerisms were unique, and even though he got very little attention in terms of booking, Rhodes did all he could to try and make Stardust a success.

Unfortunately, for the same reasons Goldust never escaped the midcard, Stardust remained there too. The gimmick was too wacky, too silly, and booked too poorly to ever make it in WWE as a successful character. Rhodes may have been good with Stardust, but when weighing up positives and negatives, Stardust is on the poor side of things.

8 Cody Rhodes Found Success As A Bleach-Haired ROH World Champion

Cody Received The Iconic Rhodes Haircut