What If Dashing was Dashing Before Dashing was Dashing

[TJ Matics]

I don't know if many of you know,
but back when Cody Rhodes first "busted" on the scene he had a mini beef with Hardcore Holly before they joined up in a tag-team. During their encounters Hardcore continued to call Rhodes a pretty boy, one time saying he belonged in a boy band not a WWE ring, leading to Cody continually trying to earn his respect, which led to them forming a tag-team. He then betrayed Holly and joined forces with Ted which, of course, led to them joining legacy.


So my questions are:

What if the E had given Rhodes the Dashing gimmick then? (instead of having him prove himself)
Would he had been a bigger star sooner?
Would the Dashing Gimmick had worked on the RAW brand?
Would he had embodied it like he does now?
If they had given him the gimmick then, how would the tag-team of him and Ted had gone?
Do you think that he would have ever joined legacy?

 

[#hamler]

Well first of all, if he had the "Dashing" gimmick, he certainly wouldn't have even joined Legacy because Legacy is a gimmick in its own right, hence the name "Legacy". Legacy was a group based on the second and third generation upcoming stars. They were trying to use the old "Evolution" theory where you take an already established superstar, and pair him up with two rookies to get them over. If Dashing were Dashing before this, this would've never happened. Who knows, Ted might not even be around anymore because he had nothing to do.

On RAW, I don't think the Dashing gimmick would've worked. Smackdown is quite different then RAW. Smackdown is more of a younger, up and coming show. They give the spot light to younger stars while RAW is more focused on the already esablished stars. Dashing Cody, need somewhere he could expiriment with the gimmick. Smackdown is the right show for that.

Now, I said earlier that if Cody had the Dashing gimmick before Legacy, he wouldn't have even joined. If Cody was Dashing before Legacy, I believe he would be further in his career then he already is. Maybe he would've already held a Intercontinental Championship or a United States Championship. Who knows, maybe the WWE Universe would've gotten tired of the whole "ooooo, you're only smoke and mirrors" type of gimmick. But in my opinion, if he were handed the gimmick a lot sooner, he would be further in his career than he currently is.

 

[Undertaker the 5th]

I think you are already calling him a star when he is not. I don't think the majority of the people who are not from the IWC don't give a crap about Cody. He has never really been so over. When he was in Legacy, the WWE made Randy a face instead of giving that face push to either Cody or Ted which would have helped them more. I don't think it would have changed if he was given the gimmick before. He would still be a midcarder at best. I think the thing that is holding him the most is his size and I know this will sounds stupid, but he just looks weird without knee pads. I know Del Rio doesn't use them either, but at least he has thick legs. Cody just looks too skinny.

 

[Dagger Dias]

So you're saying that WWE should have debuted Cody as his current self, for his feud with Hardcore Holly? No one would have bought into that. The reason the character works now is because of the arrogance he began to show after turning heel with Ted when they won the tag titles. The Dashing gimmick probably would not have worked on Raw either, it's full of strange gimmicks as it is and he would have gotten lost in the shuffle. There is no way that it would have worked sooner due to it being a weird gimmick that people would not have taken seriously. He started as basically himself, then turned heel, then got arrogant, which created his current character. It worked out this way and wouldn't have otherwise. I won't even get started on what would have happened if he hadn't joined Legacy. That saved him from "midcarder for life" status.

 

[MMSoldier]

I say no to all questions. If cody was dashing before now, nothing would have worked out. I think the reason it works now is because the poll acually happened.

 

[Chill]

Obviously we will never know but I don't think there's any reason to believe that Cody couldn't have debuted right off the bat as 'Dashing Cody Rhodes' and made it work. I mean, Alberto Del Rio was given a long build up (through those numerous, albeit boring vignettes) and debuted as a smug heel and it's working for him thus far. WWE could have showed the grooming tips in the weeks prior to Cody's debut and then have him appear after a few months build up....that's how they used to do it anyway...it worked for Alberto and it could have worked for Rhodes, absolutely no reason to think otherwise really.