Before becoming The American Nightmare Cody Rhodes, Cody worked as Stardust in WWE. The gimmick did not pick up as expected, and eventually he left WWE. Some of the highlights of his career as Stardust featured the rivalry with Stephen Amell, winning the tag team championship with Goldust and competing for the Intercontinental Championship in a ladder match at WrestleMania 32.
Although the gimmick was not so popular among the fans, WWE gave him a decent place on the match card. Still, according to a family member of Cody Rhodes, The American Nightmare was embarrassed while working that gimmick.
In an interview with Sportskeeda Wrestling, Cody’s sister Teil Runnels described to Bill Apter about how her brother felt when WWE gave him that gimmick.
“I think Stardust, yeah, it really was. Especially when he was tagging with Goldust. I mean, they weren’t even on TV. They were just doing live events, and his career really stalled,” said Teil Runnels.
Cody Rhodes was embarrassed by his Stardust gimmick in WWE, according to Teil Runnels (Exclusive) #WWE #AEW https://t.co/TLmz3lnwFi
— Sports Worldwide (@Sportsworld0412) August 20, 2023
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“Really the frustration had been setting in before Dream passed”- Teil Runnels says Rhodes family was frustrated with Stardust gimmick
During the same chat, Teil Runnels further mentioned that WWE was not open to the other ideas suggested by Cody Rhodes back then. Everyone in the Rhodes family knew that the gimmick given to Cody was not that a top guy would have. At best, he would be a mid-carder on the show.
“Yeah, we were all frustrated. My dad and I even spoke on the phone, and that was not a top-guy character. He was never gonna move out of the mid-card. Really the frustration had been setting in before Dream passed.”
Watching the Cody Rhodes documentary on Peacock and I reaffirm my position.
WWE never admits to failure. It's always the talents fault. They act like Stardust was his idea. No accountability on them ever.
— Scotty Latimer (@Kneel2Latimer) August 13, 2023
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Teil Runnels concluded by saying that Cody Rhodes would tell his wife about how he could get out of his goofy gimmick. Luckily Cody got an exit from WWE and then he worked hard in other promotions to return as the top guy of the company in 2022.
