Introducing...Cody Rhodes

With all this recent talk about famous pro wrestling states (namely southern states like Florida and North Carolina), it seems to be a fitting to take a look at Cody Rhodes, who is the son of one of the south’s biggest stars in “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes.

At just the tender age of 24, Cody Rhodes (born Cody Runnels) is riding high on the RAW brand and has battled all of the top WWE stars of the day, including Triple H, Shawn Michaels and John Cena.

Rhodes grew up with natural athletic ability and was a standout amateur wrestler. He originally had aspirations to be an actor, but the family business was too much of a draw and he followed his brother (Dustin “Goldust” Rhodes) and his father into pro wrestling.

He made his debut in WWE’s developmental territory Ohio Valley Wrestling in the summer of 2006 as a fan favorite. He soon formed an alliance with fellow young gun Shawn Spears and the duo won the OVW Southern Tag Championships twice. Rhodes also picked up the OVW Heavyweight Championship along the way and won the OVW Television Title from his former partner Spears after a violent break up.

Rhodes debuted on WWE television in July 2007 at the side of his father in his battle against “Legend Killer” Randy Orton. He had a mini-feud with Orton before transitioning into the mid-card on the Monday Night RAW brand. Rhodes then entered into a respect rivalry with Hardcore Holly, which in turn caused them to form a respect-based team. Rhodes and Holly entered into a feud with World Tag Team Champions Lance Cade & Trevor Murdoch, challenging them first at Survivor Series ’07 before defeating them for the belts on the 15th Anniversary episode of RAW in December 2007.

While as champs the two men remained low on the card and mini-feuds with various tandems on the RAW brand. Things finally picked up in May 2008 when the debuting Ted DiBiase, Jr., on behalf of himself and a mystery partner, challenged Rhodes and Holly to a World Tag Title match at the Night of Champions pay per view. At the actual pay per view, DiBiase arrived sans partner only for Rhodes to turn on Holly and join DiBiase. So Rhodes entered the match as a World Tag Team Champion with Hardcore Holly and left the match as a World Tag Team Champion with Ted DiBiase.

As summer turned to fall, Rhodes and DiBiase formed a loose association with Randy Orton and later Manu as a multi-generational stable. Rhodes and DiBiase lost their Tag Titles to Kofi Kingston & CM Punk along the way.

But Rhodes rebounded when he, DiBiase and Orton officially formed Legacy, a trio of multi-generational stars expecting special treatment based on their family heritage. Rhodes then became essentially a henchman or flunky for Orton during the first half of 2009 battling the likes of Triple H, The McMahons, John Cena and anyone that stood in Orton’s way.

Rhodes and DiBiase started to gain a little traction on their own when they began a two-on-two rivalry with DeGeneration X (Shawn Michaels & Triple H) late this past summer that spilled into this fall. Rhodes and DiBiase may have lost two out three of the teams’ big battles (with losses at both SummerSlam and Hell in a Cell, and a victory at Breaking Point) they still came out as bigger stars in the end.

Now as 2009 slowly comes to an end, Rhodes and his Legacy teammates are at an impasse. After spending a year learning under Orton, perhaps it is time for Rhodes to break out on his own and carve his own “legacy” so to speak. The year 2010 could the year a lot of people learn the name of Cody Rhodes.

Billed Height – 6’1
Billed Weight – 223 lbs.
Billed From – Charlotte, North Carolina
Nicknames – Dashing; The Uncommon Man; The Purist
Signature Moves – Cross-Rhodes; DDT; Bulldog; Crossbody from the top rope
Major Titles Held – World Tag Team Championship (3), OVW Heavyweight Championship, OVW Southern Tag Team Championship (2), OVW Television Championship
Debuted – 2006

For more info:
Cody Rhodes’ official WWE bio
Cody Rhodes’ Wikipedia entry
Cody Rhodes on Online World of Wrestling