Cody Rhodes did not leave WWE on good terms He even wrote out big messages on Twitter criticising WWE and their creative team. He said that he had pitched an angle where he returned as Cody Rhodes several times, but they paid no heed to him. Also, he even accused one of the creative team members of being more interested in hitting on the Divas than he was writing storylines. These comments supposedly led to a lot of heat towards Cody after he left.
Cody then posted a photo of a checklist of all the names that he wants to wrestle on the independent scene, and it seems that the checklist will be completed sooner than he anticipated.
Dave Meltzer reported on Wrestling Observer Radio on Monday that Cody Rhodes will have to wrestle in upcoming matches without using his name. His real name is Cody Runnels, and while his father owned all rights to the name “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes, it was WWE who requested Cody use the "Rhodes" name, in order to play off of his father's legacy. Due to that, WWE owns the name “Cody Rhodes” and they are not allowing Cody to use the name.
Cody will be wrestling for both Ring Of Honor and TNA, and that too without a contract. This is almost a first in wrestling. However, due to the fact that TNA and ROH are both nationally broadcasted shows, it is highly unlikely that WWE will let him capitalize and use the name they own. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter gave his take on this:
“To me it’s like, they may have the legal right. But it feels so unfair to me that he’s not going to be able to use the name Cody Rhodes on television because they own the name. And I just feel like, they did not create Dusty Rhodes.
“[Cody Rhodes] never worked for anyone but WWE. So he had no prior usage. But it’s like, the frickin’ Rhodes name goes back 50 years in this business. And he’s a member of that family. And WWE did not create Dusty Rhodes. They did not come up with the name Dusty Rhodes. By the time he got there, Dusty Rhodes was one of the three biggest attractions in the country, before he got there in the first place.”
It will be interesting to see what Cody Rhodes changes his name to in this situation.
