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Cody Rhodes Talks Shawn Michaels/Triple H Prank, Stardust Character

By Mark Suleymanov
Published on: 07:37 PST, Nov 13, 2016

Cody Rhodes left the WWE in May and has taken his talents to virtually every major federation in the world. From Total Nonstop Action (TNA) and Pro Wrestling Guerilla (PWG) to EVOLVE and soon-to-be Ring of Honor (ROH), the 31-year-old has been everywhere.

But a lot of his interviews have focused on his eventful exit from WWE; a lot of which included several years of frustration and a lack of direction. Rhodes’ final act in WWE was Stardust, a spinoff from his half-brother’s Goldust’s popular persona. The son of “The Dream” believes his father’s death played a role in Stardust ultimately not working out.

In a recent interview with False Comeback, Rhodes was asked by host Andrew Khellah — who brought up a Jim Ross article in which the WWE Hall of Famer gave his take on Stardust — on why the character failed to resonate with the audience.

“I think the disconnect was once my dad passed away, it was like the audience and performer — the most important connection you need to make, whereas most people it would have been great if they were booing Stardust or in on it. But most people just felt bad, like here is this situation that we’ve all been made well aware of, wrestling fans’ grieved just like my actual family did, so then here is his son who is just kind of dressed up in an awkward fashion. I think that was the disconnect, whenever you feel any lack of connection it’s a huge bummer. You want to nip it in the bud right away and move forward, and the problem was it wasn’t happening right away we had to move things forward on our own.”

But Stardust’s shortcomings were no reflection on Rhodes’ success in years past. He is, after all, a multiple time WWE Tag Team Champion, Intercontinental Champion, and Slammy award winner. Having spent nearly a decade of his career in WWE — at times as one of the company’s featured acts — allowed Rhodes to experience the main event spotlight.

Khellah wanted one story from Rhodes’ time in WWE; he spoke about a main event tag team match at a house show against D-Generation-X (Triple H and Shawn Michaels) in the United Kingdom.

“I remember Hunter told me — and we had this banner that hangs over the regular pipe and drape, ‘come out and rip it down, disrespect DX so people will boo’ and I said that was great,” Rhodes said. “I didn’t know it was a rib, I came out, grabbed the banner, pulled it out and (pop). The only thing supporting it was a two by four and it hit me in the back of the head and I’m covered in this green speckle paint. I get in the ring and Hunter and Shawn just laughed at me the whole match. I always thought ‘oh it was an accident’ but no it was a very intentional rib and I fell for it. But that’s the road, ya know?”

Growing up in a wrestling family, Rhodes understands the ribs and other parts of the business. It all stemmed from his relationship with his father.

The youngest Rhodes said that seeing his father be able to separate his life as a wrestler and a parent inspired him. It showed him how to not take his job too seriously and to get out if he started to feel unhappy — which is exactly what he did.

“Essentially this is a stressful enough job, if you’re not having fun with it then it’s gonna eat its way at you,” Rhodes said.

[Featured Image by Michael N. Todaro/Getty Images for WWE]

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