Cody Rhodes On Stardust Gimmick: “In The End, Blame Is On Me”

All Elite Wrestling’s Cody Rhodes has reflected on his time in WWE portraying the Stardust character. Responding to a tweet from talkSPORT’s Alex McCarthy, Cody explained how the Stardust gimmick had broken him and that he was a “subpar performer” during that time because of it.

“Not pushing Stardust wasn’t the crime, the character had broke me and I was a subpar performer under the paint during that period. The crime was not capitalizing on 2010-12 where I was cooking with gas and my live event work was top level consistent. In the end, blame is on me.”

Cody would be repackaged with the Stardust gimmick in mid-2014. It would see him don face paint, a bodysuit, and adopt mannerisms that initially aped those of his brother, Goldust.

In 2016, Cody revealed he had officially requested his release from WWE. He later revealed he had “pleaded” with WWE writers to end the Stardust gimmick for over 6 months. Despite pitching several storylines, all of them were ignored.