Why did Cody Rhodes become Stardust in WWE? Know the real reason

Cody Rhodes is clearly a massive fan favorite at this point. The WWE Universe showed who they wanted to see in WrestleMania 40's main event when they swarmed social media with "We Want Cody" hashtags and didn't let The Rock take The American Nightmare's spot.

While The American Nightmare character has changed Rhodes' career for the better, he played an entirely different gimmick during his previous run with the company. The former Intercontinental Champion was known as Stardust between 2014 and 2016 when he teamed up with his real-life brother, Goldust.

As part of the Stardust gimmick, Cody Rhodes wore face paint and a bodysuit, similar to Goldust. However, he didn't achieve much success in WWE during this period.

Rhodes once revealed that Stephanie McMahon asked him to start painting his face like The Natural, leading to the debut of Stardust:

“When we've been together for a little while as a team, there is something cool about teaming with your brother. There's a very real dynamic and a protective element to it, but I think they just thought it was getting a little stale, so God bless her. Stephanie McMahon just randomly blurted out in gorilla [position], 'Why don't you paint your face like your brother?' And I'm looking, like, 'ah?' just trying to get out of the curtain, just trying to get out of the curtain, and then I saw the old man, I saw Vince [McMahon] just [imitating Vince], 'Yes!'"

The 2024 Royal Rumble Men's Royal Rumble match winner further discussed Vince McMahon's reaction to Stephanie's pitch:

"And he [Vince] came out of gorilla, headset off, and he gave me the creative services guys' info. Creative services is like a defunct brand."

After working as Stardust for some time, Cody Rhodes wanted to adopt a new character. Due to creative frustrations, he left the company in 2016 before returning in 2022.

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Cody Rhodes has challenged The Rock

Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins were present at Elimination Chamber 2024, where they were part of a special edition of The Grayson Waller Effect.

During the talk show, Rhodes and Rollins addressed The Rock's attempts to seemingly hijack the main event of WrestleMania 40. Furthermore, they discussed The Great One referring to Rhodes' fans as "Cody Crybabies."

Finally, The American Nightmare issued an open challenge to The Rock, claiming that his schedule was "wide open" until WrestleMania 40, and he'll take on The Rock anytime in a one-on-one match.