I think this entire ride of the Cody Rhodes character has been done brilliantly.
WWE gave him something to work with to see whether he could make it or fail. He made it. Completely killing the material they gave him with incredible performances and personality. His mic work became wonderful and his in-ring stuff continued to improve. He dveloped his own stuff and he was really making it work.
However, the style of character needed an edge. This guy was likely to never headline a WrestleMania. Which, in many ways, is what you're hoping for with the majority of your talent. So, when this all came about, they decided to add it with something that seemed laughable at first, to match his character, but then got taken overboard with his ridiculous paranoia and aggressive nature.
Getting hurt made him whine, but also want to kick ass. Not just whine like he did before. He snapped.
Here's an idea of how well he's done thus far. When Dusty came out to set up that swerve on Rey Mysterio, it didn't feel like an attempt at a cheap pop for Dusty and some attention for a poor, little Cody. No. It felt like just another turn on this journey. So well done.
While there are similarities with the Mankind character in terms of mannerisms and in terms of other little things, I see them as different in many ways. Mankind was crazy for being neglected. Cody has let us see what drove him to this. It's more built in, in the sense that we have seen it unravel.