Should Cody Rhodes Have Kept The "Dashing" Gimmick?

[CM Steel]

Even since the son of the american dream Dusty Rhodes has made his mark in the WWE. We've seen 6 sides of Cody Rhodes charactor.

1. The Bluechipper who tagged with Hardcore Holly on RAW.
2. "Priceless" Cody Rhodes who tagged with Ted Dibiase on RAW.
3. The Goon Cody Rhodes who was under Randy Orton in the Legacy faction.
4. "Dashing" Cody Rhodes on Smackdown.
5. "Disfigured" Cody Rhodes on Smackdown.
6...Cody Rhodes! The reigning WWE IC champion.

Now it looks like the "Dashing" Cody Rhodes charactor was just a prop to be used in a storyline to introduce the "Disfigured" Cody Rhodes in his feud with Rey Mysterio leading into Wrestlemania 27 in Atlanta. So now that Cody Rhodes has taken off the clear mask and started thinking clear. Should "Dashing" Cody Rhodes make a comeback since Rhodes stopped using that Mankind-like gimmick?

 

[Defekt]

Nah, the "Dashing" gimmick was an one trick pony. It provided an identity, and a reason for fans to hate him, but "Dashing" Cody Rhodes is too simple a gimmick to move to the next level.

 

[ProWrestlingFan]

No Cody Rhodes should have kept the "Undashing" gimmick instead. The stuff he did during the time when he had the mask was much better then what he is doing now. The baggers,paper bags and dark character was entertaining but now he has just gone back to what he was during his pre-dashing gimmick just with a different theme song and a simple entrance.

Undashing gimmick expanded Cody's personality but now he has just become generic like he was before 2011.

 

[Azane]

It ran it's course, WWE did a good job transitioning him from dashing arrogance, to Phantom of the Opera, to mask as weapon, to his current gimmick, bash to a generic heel.

I think this was one of their best character stories to play out in years.


I don't think the Dashing gimmick had much left in it's shelf life before it went bad, I was already fast forwarding through the Cody's tips vignettes and kind of hoping he evolved when he finally did.

He needs to keep moving on, and not look back, he definitely has moved away from being Ted's bitch to being the better half of the legacy now, and I don't like to speculate on future gimmicks, but I have a feeling he's going to be playing a legend killeresque character for a bit.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Cody unmasking should have been the alarm for everyone that Kane was coming back masked... They can only have one "disfigured", psychotic character at a time... It's a shame, I actually think Cody was far better than Kane is right now and had he kept the mask he would have been winning the title in the next month or two...

He needs now to focus on becoming "the best Rhodes", the feud with Goldust if it happens is really good for him...

 

[DeathClutch]

Even since the son of the american dream Dusty Rhodes has made his mark in the WWE. We've seen 6 sides of Cody Rhodes charactor.

1. The Bluechipper who tagged with Hardcore Holly on RAW.
2. "Priceless" Cody Rhodes who tagged with Ted Dibiase on RAW.
3. The Goon Cody Rhodes who was under Randy Orton in the Legacy faction.
4. "Dashing" Cody Rhodes on Smackdown.
5. "Disfigured" Cody Rhodes on Smackdown.
6...Cody Rhodes! The reigning WWE IC champion.

Now it looks like the "Dashing" Cody Rhodes charactor was just a prop to be used in a storyline to introduce the "Disfigured" Cody Rhodes in his feud with Rey Mysterio leading into Wrestlemania 27 in Atlanta. So now that Cody Rhodes has taken off the clear mask and started thinking clear. Should "Dashing" Cody Rhodes make a comeback since Rhodes stopped using that Mankind-like gimmick?

I disagree we've seen the evolution of Cody, the good guy clean shaven wet behind the ears who wised up and turned heel, and done one of the most dispickable heel turns in wrestling, he turned on his tag partner to aligne himself with the other guy.

Then he moved on too "bigger and better things" with Orton in turn Orton explioted the two new guys (classic heel) Cody and Ted basically did all Orton's bidding for him and took the ass kickings for him, but this was all part of his character moving on. After Legacy's split Cody was left kind of gimmickless (which was part and parcel of Cody since his inception his persona was always bland in the sense nothing stuck) but Dashing is what got him over then to disfigure the guy was "PRICELESS" it's a shame WWE didn't keep that storyline a little longer but his current persona is perfect, he's fresh, he's keeping himself fresh and his in ring work is fine, he jobs to the right guys and beats the right guys, he's not shoved down our throats either.

Personally I'd have Cody keep the IC belt until near the end of the year, have him face Goldust at WrestleMania, if the match/feud gets over maybe keep it running with Goldust retiring and Cody every time he sees Goldust in backstage segments rubs it in his face to the point Goldust returns to chase Cody and the belt. Also if Goldust wants to retire for good, maybe have an IC title vs Career bout, would give Cody the heat to keep him over, make the belt look important and Goldust can go out in a unique feud/way, and if he wants to return at some point it's easy for WWE to work a storyline to give a reason for the return.

 

[theBec2101]

I don’t think so. That gimmick reminded me of a puny version of Lex Luger when he was the Narcissist. Back when he was always looking at himself in the three mirrors. So I really didn’t care for that gimmick. It just didn’t seem right to me, knowing that gimmick belonged to someone like Lex with the Size, Strength, and his personality when he was a heel. I mean then you get Cody with his bird chest, wow he has a great jaw line. So no, I’m glad he doesn’t have that gimmick anymore. I think he needs a gimmick where he is even more vicious, like he has a small man complex. Kind of like a Randy Orton or Roddy Piper.

 

[Mustang Sally]

I don't see the "Dashing" gimmick as being any better or worse than the others, but the fact the OP has come up with six separate characters for Cody to play illustrates that the Creative team has been instructed to do everything possible to help this guy get over.

My question is.....why? Nepotism? If his father wasn't wrestling royalty, would Cody have been given this much to work with? There are other folks sitting backstage, probably pleading with management for a chance to do something....while they get to watch Cody be endowed with all these chances. It's not as if he has some dynamic personality that demands he be pushed.

What I'm saying makes it sound as if I don't like Cody, but that's not true at all. I think he's come a long way with his in-ring repertoire and his character presentation. Someday, it will be interesting to see if he can generate heat as a good guy, which will undoubtedly be harder for him to do.

It just seems unfair for one guy to be given so much while others sit in the back, probably wondering what this guy has that they don't have.

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

My question is.....why? Nepotism? .

I don't think that the nepotism part was directly responsible for the number his gimmicks but it did certainly play a part in him being brought up to the main roster so early. He was pretty green when he started out and it took him some time to find his feet. Most of his early work was unimpressive and that is why these gimmick changes took place. I guess some of these characters were better off taking place in FCW as most of his earlier gimmicks were not all that impressive. He really a turned a corner with that Dashing gimmick. Before that he was not someone you would pay a lot of attention to.

To answer the OP's question, I would have to say NO, he was better off ditching the Dashing gimmick in the first place. The reason for this is the fact that his transformation from the overconfident good looking guy to an unstable psychotic character was very well done and it gave an edge to his gimmick. Dashing Cody was a goof and goofs can never be World Heavyweight Champions. Cody became serious and purposeful after his transformation which was much needed for him to progress up the card.

I think nowadays he is playing a mix of his dashing and disfigured gimmicks and that is the best way to move forward. He has kept the cockiness of the dashing gimmick and mixed it with the purposeful and serious attitude of the disfigured gimmick. Best of both worlds, I guess.

 

[#BestInTheWorld]

To answer the OP's question, I would have to say NO, he was better off ditching the Dashing gimmick in the first place. The reason for this is the fact that his transformation from the overconfident good looking guy to an unstable psychotic character was very well done and it gave an edge to his gimmick. Dashing Cody was a goof and goofs can never be World Heavyweight Champions. Cody became serious and purposeful after his transformation which was much needed for him to progress up the card.

Daniel Bryan would like a word with you...
I think the Dashing to Disfigured gimmick was essential in taking Cody to this level, but now he's stuck behind Big Show, Henry, and Bryan waiting for the right time to move up.

On another note, who would be the one to gain the IC title when Cody does eventually move up to the WHC scene? I'm gonna say The Miz or Alberto Del Rio should have a go with it, now the belt has a little more 'prestige' due to a lengthy reign with Rhodes. It could be just what these 2 boring guys need, a new program to work through, and to be kept away from the main event scene for a while, and have some time in mid card.

 

[MrAdam87]

No.

Its because of everything that he has done and that has happened to him over the course of his career, GOOD and BAD that have not only shaped his on camera persona today but also caused him to evolve to the level at which it is almost a forgone conclusion by most fans that Rhodes is one of the most promising younger guys going around.
To not tweak and evolve your persona is to become stale, it is no coincidence that Rhodes and Ziggler both have made tweaks to there characters over time and are the two most likely to succeed as it stands.

 

[IHW]

I'm torn on this one.

I think if the Dashing gimmick continued, it would have grown stale.
But now he is almost just like everybody else.

I think he just needs to keep developing and not stick to one character. His brother may have done the one character thing with Goldust, but in this Era, things grow boring fast.

 

[MikeKnox'sBeard]

I don't think so. The only reason why I'd say the "dashing" gimmick worked is because it was a great way to lead his character into the disfigured gimmick he was running which was some of the best character driven work in the WWE that I had seen in a long time.

 

[DirtyD79]

He needs now to focus on becoming "the best Rhodes", the feud with Goldust if it happens is really good for him...

If they play it right it could be like Bret versus Owen. Also I think he should have kept the mask. Not necessarily because he still feels he is disfigured but rather because he is arrogant and wants to protect his face kind of like Vega from Street Fighter 2. He has come a long way since being Randy Orton's stooge in Legacy.

 

[Dagger Dias]

As much as I liked the Dashing Cody Rhodes character, it does not need to come back. It gave him something to stand out from the rest with when he needed to get over as a singles action heel when Legacy split up. I liked it a lot more than the disfigured version of Rhodes' character. That stood out even more, but it really wore out its welcome with the strange mask and the annoying paper bag segments. They kept that character around for too long and I would rather have seen the dashing character last longer. Everything worked out fine though.

Rhodes' current persona is perfect. It does not need to be replaced. I liked the dashing character, but it was more of a midcard act because that type of character would not be taken seriously as a contender to either of the world titles. The character he plays now, on the other hand, shows us that Rhodes has a bright future ahead of him. The dashing character did what it was meant to do, help a new singles action heel get over after the disbanding of his stable. The disfigured character helped him in that aspect as well. Neither can touch the current persona of Rhodes though. Unlike either of the last two characters, he can be taken much more seriously as a threat now.

 

[Pay Per Ghost]

Well I absolutely loved the Dashing gimmick. The music, the mirror jacket, the grooming tips the whole character allowed him to showcase his charisma. Have we forgotten how Cody was proclaimed as destitute after Legacy broke up and DiBiasie was hailed as the next big thing?




He is vanilla for me at the moment. Is he a Legend Beater? another generic heel like Miz? If there was a poll, I would definitely want his Dashing gimmickt o return but with a few evil tweaks taken from his Paperbag gimmick.

 

[LeviCook]

I don't think the Dashing gimmick should come back completely but i do think he should take aspects from it. I do feel however that the gimmick ended to quickly. I don't feel like they let it run it's course all the way. He quickly made the change from "dashing" to "disfigured". Which allowed him to have a good match at Wrestlemania with Mysterio but besides this had nothing to gain from making the transition so soon. They should have let the dashing gimmick go on until the fans were sick of it. Both gimmicks seemed to be pretty over with the crowd. I think right now he should show aspects of both really. When he had the disfigured gimmick everyone wanted to compare him to Mankind. So something similar i think would be fitting. One second he could be really cocky and arrogant and the next he could be dark. I think this would be the best way to let his character develop as well as let the fans see a little bit of both. People often complain about predictability so this would create a scenario where you wouldn't know what he was going to say or do.

 

[boywithbluehanger]

I think our memories of what actually happened seem to be a little bit hazy. If I recall correctly, the Dashing gimmick ran its course and at a certain point didn't recieve ample reaction from the crowd. Also, the Disfigured gimmick was praised online but it all went nowhere.

The biggest problem Cody seems to have is that no other Smackdown midcard on the roster is doing anything with their character to reasonably challenge him. Zack Ryder would be an excellent babyface to feud with Rhodes but he's part of Raw. Big Zeke has no personality and struggles with delivery on the mic. Ted Dibiase is still in the midst of character development, Drew McIntyre is still lost in development hell, Brodus Clay has unexplainably been gone for a while. Regardless of whatever gimmick Rhodes is in, there's nothing impressive going on in the midcard OTHER than him to sustain his character builds without us getting bored. He continues to outshine them all.

 

[MCMG]

definitely. Although i liked Rhodes when he was wearing the mask; i preferred him when he had the dashing gimmick. Although at this stage i would say is gimmick should be secondary to his push. Just get him into the main event and then let him alter the gimmick after that.

2012 will bring a world title for rhodes.

 

[Ithil]

Not at all. The Dashing gimmick gave him his own identity after Legacy was done, made him memorable, but it was never a career long gimmick. The Undashing gimmick did wonders for Cody, during he near year he ran the gimmick he massively developed his heel mic skills and improved hugely in the ring.

Now he's got simply a "Cody Rhodes" gimmick, and it's been like a caterpillar going to a butterfly for him, he's become a great heel and wrestler, with particularly strong mic skills developed over the course of his Undashing gimmick's time. It was almost like slow training for a serious and credible heel after the more goofy heel nature of the Dashing gimmick.

He's going to be the top heel in the company within the next year or two, I expect.

 

[jssellen]

There is nothing I dislike about Cody at the moment. He looks fantastic, has excellent mic. skills and is one hell of a wrestler. I think they should make him IC and World Heavyweight Champ. He is worth it.

I couldn't stand him when he first started with Hardcore Holly, but he has grown on me from Legacy to now.