Is Cody Rhodes the leader of the next generation of WWE Superstars?


Cody Rhodes – The Next Generation

Cody Rhodes. Second generation superstar. Current Intercontinental Champion. Is he the leader of the next generation? I believe so. He has the 'X-factor', and allow me to elaborate why.

Ever since his debut, he has shown that he has the potential and is on the verge of Breaking Through the Glass Ceiling and becoming a Prototype in Today's Wrestling.

A young, fresh-faced man appeared on television alongside his father, Dusty Rhodes. His name? Cody Rhodes. A perfect way to start a career, being involved in a storyline with the former World Heavyweight Champion, Randy Orton. Cody Rhodes looked like he had the potential to possibly be in the same position that Randy Orton was in at the time. However, after several losses to Orton, Rhodes looked like he was going downhill fast, but the young gun still had loads of potential that he could show off later on. It was with this feud with Randy Orton that entailed, what could quite possibly be, the future of the WWE.


Appearance and Character

The first time we saw Cody Rhodes, we saw a confident, young, talented wrestler that had the look of a great performer wielding a ton of potential. Starting out as a young babyface that stood up for his father against “The Legend Killer” Randy Orton, Rhodes would receive the same audience reaction as any other mid card fan favorite on RAW at the time.

It was not long until the WWE decided it was the time to utilize Rhodes and fellow youngster (and 2nd Generation star), Ted DiBiase Jr., in a tag team, which won the World Tag Team Championships numerous times. This brought forth the heel turn of Cody Rhodes, as well as bringing forward a newer, over-confident personality. The start of possibly the best thing that happened to Cody Rhodes. Many would claim that DiBiase would be the one who would be the future main event star, but were proven wrong because of Rhodes' look and ability on the microphone. After the Legacy stable disbanded, it resulted in Cody Rhodes making the jump to SmackDown, where he would debut his new gimmick.

“Dashing” Cody Rhodes was young, cocky, and the fans saw him as being something big in the future. Unlike his former tag team partner, DiBiase, Rhodes was being pushed further and further up the card. Along the way, Rhodes changed his gimmick up once more, this time he would wear a face mask as a result of a legitimate injury sustained via Rey Mysterio. This gimmick would last for a while, and it also helped Cody develop his character, to the point where he won the Intercontinental Championship. And I think it is safe to say that this new gimmick and character has brought a lot of prestige back to the Intercontinental Championship, and that Rhodes is bringing back some relevance to the SmackDown midcard. One more gimmick change back to a successful hybrid of his “Dashing” and "Undashing" themes, and Cody continues to stride his way up through the SmackDown midcard, possibly on his way to a 2012 main event campaign.

Progression? Extraordinary.


Mic Skills

He is not the best mic worker in the WWE, but he could be considered one of the most promising. He definitely knows how to generate heel heat from every single audience that is put before him. He makes the crowd acknowledge his gimmick, which is what helps him develop even more. This leads to Rhodes finding an easier path up to the main event scene. The WWE are now at the stage where they can trust Cody to cut a promo either by himself or with a big time main event performer and still keep the crowd listening at the end of the promo. The fact that the WWE have this confidence and trust in Rhodes is what proves that they know he has the potential to be a established main event star in the future. This is a huge plus for the WWE as they have appeared to look below average in pushing mid carders in the past few years, so when Cody Rhodes does reach the top position by using his outstanding mic skills and his extraordinary talent in the ring, the WWE will be able to use him as a prime example for the next generation of younger talents (hence the reason I have labeled him the leader of the next generation).

Progression? Just short of perfect.


Wrestling Skills

Cody Rhodes is an outstanding performer in the ring. Every move in his move set is connected to near perfection by Rhodes. Sometimes he may have a couple of misjudgements, but most main event performers do. He is not the best wrestler in the company, but he knows what it takes to work a wrestling match just as well as an entertaining promo. He has a great set of finisher and signature moves that he utilizes very well, in addition to being able to keep an opponent down on the ring. Not only that, but he is well-versed in being able to trap an opponent in a corner and use certain strikes and moves to his advantage. He is rarely seen as a submission competitor but he has shown signs of it in the past.

Ever since his debut, Cody has proved to be an outstanding competitor in the ring thanks to his training by his father and the great Al Snow. Here is a few matches of Cody Rhodes inside the ring with big time opponents:

- Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton: WWE SmackDown 09/23/2011
- Cody Rhodes vs. Rey Mysterio: WWE SmackDown 11/22/2010
- Cody Rhodes and Wade Barrett vs. Randy Orton and Sheamus: WWE SmackDown 11/18/2011

Those are some great examples of Cody Rhodes' competitiveness inside the squared circle and his ability to work with big-time performers. This signals that he has the potential to be a main event star in the future as he works so well with the current main event stars at this stage of his career.

Progression? Great.


Crowd Reaction

This relays back to the point of Rhodes' mic skills and his in-ring abilities. I have mentioned just how good he is at cutting a heel promo and how good he is at being a heel in the ring. In the first video posted, it shows a replay from RAW where Cody Rhodes attacks Orton with his facemask. That, there, is the simple tactics of a heel to win a match. And to add in the fact that he attacked a big-time main event star allowed Rhodes to draw in a lot of heel heat from the audience. He does a marvelous job at gaining a correct crowd reaction and he does it just as good as any other heel in the company. Simply put, he knows how to get the crowd going, and easily too.

Progression? Outstanding.

Title History

- World Tag Team Championship(3 times) – with Hardcore Holly (1), Ted DiBiase (2)
- Intercontinental Championship (1 time – current)
- WWE Tag Team Championship(1 time): With Drew McIntyre (1)

He does not have a large list of accomplishments, but one of his dominant title reigns would definitely be his current Intercontinental Championship reign. He has brought so much prestige back to the belt and he has really made it relevant again due to his list of feuds over the championship. For the next couple of months, you can expect to see a good Intercontinental Championship picture as long as Cody Rhodes is involved, or another champion with the abilities of Cody Rhodes involved.

Progression: Great.

Conclusion

So after reading this: is Cody Rhodes the leader of the next generation of younger performers?

Without a doubt.

He has so much pure talent and so much potential to be a future World Champion. Don't be surprised if he wins some other accolades in the future, such as the Royal Rumble and Money in the Bank. He is definitely the key to the next generation.

The only thing I disagree with is bringing the prestige back to the belt. Though it feels as if he has done this, I look back at the feuds, and all I can think of is his feud with Booker T.

Part of what I was trying to explain when I mentioned bringing prestige back to the championship, was that he is one of the better Intercontinental Champions in recent history. This makes the championship look more prestigious due to the person holding it. Add in his credibility and momentum as a champion, and it comes off great. But now we see that the WWE are not focusing on it as much. He doesn't really have an opponent unless they do something further with Justin Gabriel, but the WWE need to get their head around this.

I'd like to see Rhodes vs Mysterio again for the Intercontinental Championship, and I'd also like to see him in a feud with Christian and a deeper feud with Justin Gabriel. He has so much potential as the Intercontinental Champion, just look at his feud with Booker, but the WWE management seem to be lacking off a bit with it now.

That's a much better explanation.
Now the only thing I disagree with is a feud with Gabriel. He has absolutely no momentum nor credibility. Build him up a lot before it happens, and I'd buy it. Now the only issue is how does he drop the belt to someone so he can move up to the ME without losing momentum? I'd imagine some sort of fluke win where Cody attempts to cheat, but the face manages to have it blow up in Cody's face.

His Intercontinental Championship reign should have led to that. He should have been able to drop the IC Championship and move straight up to the main event, but the WWE are slowly lacking off with it, just like they have with every other mid card champion. A big example would be Kofi Kingston. He had so much potential as a mid card champion, but the WWE lacked off with it, look where he is now. If the WWE to that with Rhodes, it will lead to a downfall in future talent.