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#1 Cody Rhodes
Haunted by the legacy of his father and stuck in a gimmick he didn't want, Cody Rhodes thought that he deserved better, so on May 21, 2016, he asked for his release and WWE granted it. Little did they know that this was the biggest mistake they had made in years.
What followed was Cody's ascend to greatness. He signed a contract with ROH which allowed him to work with NJPW as well. He debuted on December 10, 2016, as 'The American Nightmare' Cody and joined the Bullet Club where he became close friends with the Young Bucks.
Along with the leader of the Bullet Club, Kenny Omega, as well as Marty Crull and Adam Page they started to call themselves 'The Elite'.
The rest is history, as they proceeded to conquer the wrestling world, first by filling a 10K seat venue in an event called ALL IN and then by creating their own wrestling company called All Elite Wrestling.
Meanwhile, Cody became an ROH World Champion, an IWGP US Champion and NWA World Champion. He thought he deserved better, he was right.
Quite a career accleration compared to what the WWE offered him.
