"Dashing" Cody Rhodes: The Most Underrated Superstar On The WWE Roster?

Cody Rhodes, son of the great Dusty Rhodes and half brother of the Bizarre One, Goldust has spent his entire WWE career being overshadowed.

When he first came up to the main roster, he was a babyface and had Dusty by his side to help get him over. Cody briefly feuded with Randy Orton as a result of the Legend Killer slapping his father but lost most of the matches the two had.

During the months that followed, Rhodes stayed as a babyface and was mostly a lower mid-card wrestler, feuding with Davari and The World's Great Tag Team. Nothing he did at this point was remarkable and he remained lost in the mid-card shuffle.

A little further down the line, he was partnered with Hardcore Holly, a popular superstar with years of experience in the WWE. The pair spent some time as Tag Team Champions and all the while, Rhodes struggled to leave a lasting impression on the WWE Universe as he was considered plain by most.

A short while later, Cody broke away from Holly, turning heel and aligning himself with Ted DiBiase Jr, a fellow second Generation superstar. However, Rhodes still never got his chance to shine while part of Priceless, as DiBiase was seen as the better half and the one most likely to succeed as a singles competitor. The problem was, for the most part, Cody Rhodes was just plain boring.

This continued when the two young men joined forces with Randy Orton to form Legacy. At this time, Orton was one of the greatest and most over main eventing heels in the company so in theory, Legacy was a good idea. Who better than one of the most popular WWE superstars to help get both Ted and Cody over, as both were relatively new to the WWE and shared a common bond with Randy as second/third generation superstars.

In reality, Legacy did not exactly do its job. 

Ted and Cody appeared to be Randy's lackeys throughout the stable's entire tenure and still did not do much to impress. Despite the two men feuding with Orton following the demise of Legacy and even having a Triple Threat match at the Royal Rumble, the two younger Legacy men left the stable still as mid-carders who were just not that interesting.

As usual, people began debating which of the two men were going to go on to be the Shawn Michaels of the team and who would go down as the Jannetty. Most people, myself included, were sure DiBiase was going to be the bigger, better superstar while Rhodes would be stuck in the lower mid-card where he would continue to struggle to get over.

Boy, were we wrong!

At the Draft after Wrestlemania, Cody was sent to Smackdown while his two former Legacy partners remained on Raw. It is clear now that this was the best thing that could have happened to this second generation superstar.

For the first few months, Rhodes wrestled on the mid-card of the blue brand as a heel but without any sort of direction. It wasn't until June that Rhodes received the first big Singles push of his career when he appeared on Smackdown with his NXT rookie Husky Harris and cut an impressive promo, informing us that he was named "Most Handsome Superstar" by a poll taken by the WWE Divas and introduced himself as "Dashing" Cody Rhodes.

From that moment on, I was sold.

Prior to the promo, Rhodes had never struck me as a great mic worker, most likely down to the fact that he had never been given much of a platform to show it. Seeing him debuting his new gimmick felt as if I was watching a brand new person!

The promo was entertaining, endearing and most importantly, believable. He worked the crowd well, slinging insults at some of the people in the front row ("I can literally hear you getting fatter"). He also looked comfortable in this position and kept me engaged the entire time.

For the first time since his 2007 debut, Cody Rhodes was making an actual impact, without the help of any other Superstar.

In the weeks that followed, the "Dashing" gimmick became larger and started garnering more and more heel heat. 

It was clear from the beginning he would be getting a big push. He debuted a brand new theme song (don't lie, you sing along to "Smoking Mirrors" every time it comes on) and to go with this theme song, received a totally re-vamped entrance, equipped with a digital mirror on the titantron and a mirror on the back of his jacket. 

He also began cutting more promos, even receiving a segment on Smackdown called "Dashing Cody Rhode's Grooming Tips" in which he would give the audience tips and pointers on how to become "one step closer to Dashing." For these segments, Rhodes is given some of the most ridiculous things to do, like shaving his legs and applying facial masks. 

Along with his improved mic skills, Rhodes began standing out in the ring as well. 

His matches with talented wrestlers Kofi Kingston, Christian and Matt Hardy proved Rhodes to be a solid in-ring competitor and he looks better and better in the ring every week.

His in-ring antics also make him stand out amongst the crowd. From the "DON'T TOUCH THE FACE" screams to leaving the ring in anger whenever he is hit in the face is constantly entertaining and proves Rhodes is able and willing to take a gimmick that has been recycled dozens of times and give it new dimensions. He even managed to shine whilst part of his third WWE tag team, this time with "The Chosen One" Drew McIntyre.

Unfortunately for Cody, in a time where the WWE has the likes of Daniel Bryan, Dolph Ziggler and Kofi Kingston bringing the mid-card to light, it is very easy to go unnoticed. Because of this, I do not believe Rhodes get the recognition he deserves.

Look at Cody Rhodes from 2007 and the Cody Rhodes of 2010. The difference and the improvement is remarkable. He is an extremely talented wrestler, great mic worker and has a great amount of charisma but is rarely commended for these things.

No one can deny how well he has done with his "Dashing" gimmick since its debut, which says a lot, since the narcissistic male gimmick is one that has been done countless times in the WWE. And to go with it, he knows how to work a crowd whether that is in the ring or on the mic, which cannot be said for many other IWC darlings like John Morrison.

It also goes without saying that Rhodes is out-performing his Legacy stablemate Ted DiBiase in the ring and on the mic, which means a lot for the guy that was supposed to be the Jannetty. Also, the WWE seem to be higher on Rhodes, as while Rhodes is being pushed as a top mid-card heel, DiBiase has been seen on Raw struggling with his father's gimmick and rarely winning matches.

Funnily enough, this trend of the underdog coming out on top is becoming more common. 

It happened with The Miz. It happened with Dolph Ziggler. It's happening with Tyson Kidd and Cody Rhodes. 

Who knows, maybe 2011 might just be the year of the underdog? If so, expect to see "Dashing" Cody Rhodes cement his place as a top WWE superstar, continuing on the legacy of the great Rhodes/Runnels family.

-Leva Lies