Cody Rhodes has drawn parallels between his Stardust gimmick and his current WWE character, and how different the two are.
Rhodes has repeatedly stated that he wasn't a fan of the Stardust gimmick, but "The American Nightmare" was eager to make it work at first, which he discussed on "All The Smoke."
"So, I looked at it as a challenge to maximize, to really kind of make chicken salad out of chicken sh*t, essentially. That's always a big thing in wrestling. Take somethingthat's a little silly and then you blow it up," he said. "At the beginning of Stardust, I thought, 'This is a great challenge.' And I've answered the challenge. We're selling these gloves. I'm learning how to do the paint. I can be so ridiculous. My promos have almost moved into this realm where there's a British accent to it. It's just gone so ridiculous. All this sci-fi knowledge and Trek babble that I knew I can incorporate into this character. But I also gave it a shelf life of about six months. So overa year in, I was at the lowest of lows as awrestler."
While he was optimistic about making the character a success in the beginning, he later lost his desire and passion for it, which ultimately led to his WWE exit. Rhodes then contrasted that character to the current one he is portraying in WWE, explaining how he hid behind the Stardust character but is now showcasing his true self.
"I was shielded. Today I'm not shielded. If I was to run to Anaheim right now to do Raw, I'd come out just like this [in his suit]. That's who I am. It's my life. Everything's been out in the open since I came back on I live my story just on television for them. That time was just ridiculous. You were able to be a character and have fun and be covered, be masked."
Rhodes has completely reinvented himself since his days as Stardust and is now widely regarded as one of the most popular stars in professional wrestling.
