WWE Comparison: Is Cody Rhodes the New Mankind?

We hear a lot of comparisons in the IWC.

John Morrison and Shawn Micheals, Kurt Angle and Jack Swagger, Stone Cold and Randy Orton; but I think we can add another to this list.

I'm talking about Cody Rhodes and Mick Foley. Or to be more precise, Cody Rhodes and Mankind.

I was recently watching a match Cody Rhodes had with Trent Barreta (said match ended with Cody hitting several headbutts with his new mask, followed by a Cross Rhodes for the win).

After the match, I started reading up on Mick Foley (and more precisely, my favorite of his alter egos, Mankind), when a few similarities dawned on me.

Early Mankind, before being the funny guy, was a much darker and broken individual, similar to the now "Not-So-Dashing" Cody Rhodes.

Rhodes, since having his nose broken by Rey Mysterio, has become a shell of his former self, and along with losing his looks (in his mind), he's kind of lost his mind too.

He doesn't seem like he's all there until the bell rings; and when he's on his way to the ring, with what little of his face I can see, it seems like he's mumbling to himself.

Along with that, even the atmosphere of the arena seems to pay homage to the similarities.

When I first got the idea, I looked up Mankind's debut. In it, I saw the arena was darkened—just as it is when Cody Rhodes makes his entrance. The music, while overtly different for both men, strikes me as being in the same vein.

I watched an interview of Mankind by Jim Ross, and I must say, it was a great show of character done by Mick Foley.

Cody had a shorter interview with Todd Grisham back when Cody first was injured by Rey. Cody's refusal to look at the camera and the demeanor of his voice conveyed a deep sense of pain—just as Mick did in his interview with J.R.

The big difference between the two characters is the history.

Mankind's interview with Jim Ross went for four parts—each one detailing different parts of Mick's career up until his arrival in the WWF. Cody isn't so fortunate in this regard, but that's not really a bad thing.

I truly believe that Cody can pull off this gimmick. Maybe not as well as Mick Foley, but you never know.

Even the broadcast team is doing a good job with commentary on his matches. They do a good job in making portraying him as somewhat of a sympathetic, bitter, person; words that you could use to describe the two sides of Mankind.

From his debut to 1996, his interview described him as bitter.

Bitter at the WWF for not taking him when he was young; bitter at Shawn Michaels for looking the way he does while Mick looked the way he does.

Sympathetic comes in 1998, as Mankind became a more goofy character; someone people could take pity on.

Maybe not for a while, but Cody could pull off a face turn.

Especially with a former tag partner like Ted Dibiase, should he be moved to Smackdown following WrestleMania.

Ted, always seen as the one who'd succeed, could have a field day flaunting his money, status, and physique over a now depressed and broken Cody. A feud that would not only raise Cody's and Ted's stock, but allow people to get behind Cody as they would Mankind.

It's just a thought, but I think Cody can really run with this gimmick.

And who's not to say Cody couldn't pull a Mic Foley? Cody, to an extent, has had three gimmicks. There was the generic heel Cody, Dashing Cody Rhodes, and now Un-Dashing Cody Rhodes.

Not as extreme as Cactus Jack, Dude Love, and Mankind, but the point is that the two have a few similarities, and I hope WWE can build upon that.

Mankind was a favorite of mine. Cody Rhodes is a favorite of mine; so here's hoping WWE continues to experiment and see what they can do with Cody Rhodes.