Wrestling: The Cody Rhodes effect is real

The feeling for a long time was if you made it to the WWE, that was it. In recent memory, a wrestler like Seth Rollins, Daniel Bryan or CM Punk; would work various independent promotions before a major company like WWE would sign them. Then came Cody Rhodes. Cody was someone who was born into the WWE as his dad, Dusty Rhodes, and older brother, Dustin Rhodes, were mainstays in the WWF. He started in WWE in 2006 as he worked for OVW (developmental system before NXT). He was with the WWE until 2016 when he asked for his release.

More AEW: Lance Archer Will Become Your Next TNT Champion

The reason for him asking for his release was how he was not getting over as Stardust, He mentioned on Twitter that he pitched several ideas to WWE writers on ways to stop Stardust. Since he was still young, he felt that he was gunna bet on himself. He was one of the first superstars in recent memory to make the leap from the WWE to the indies. This lead Cody to joining the Bullet Club and eventually begin one of the hottest promotions in wrestling AEW. Since this has happened we started to see other wrestlers leave the WWE because they were not being used the right way.

Some of those names that come to mind include Kenta (Hideo Itami in the WWE), Jon Moxley (Dean Ambrose in the WWE), and Shawn Spears (Tye Dillinger). Kenta and Moxley are currently killing it in the G1 Climax. As of this writing, Kenta is in second place in block A of the G1 Climax with 8 points. On the other hand, Jon Moxley is in first place and has not lost. The feeling is that he will probably be the one heading towards Wrestle Kingdom to challenge Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight title.

In the case of Shawn Spears, he has become one of the top heels in AEW. He is set to take on Cody at All Out at the end of August. All three of these wrestlers took a gamble on themselves and so far it’s paid off. It will be interesting to see the future of these three superstars and are we going to see others follow the path.