Cody Rhodes recently revealed that had it not been for Stephanie McMahon, the Stardust character as we knew it may never have happened.
In the relatively short time Cody Rhodes has not been a WWE Superstar, he has accomplished an incredible amount. More than even he likely ever envisioned. Ring Of Honor Champion, NWA Champion, current IWGP US Champion. Plus, above all of those other accomplishments, he spearheaded what may have been the biggest and best independent wrestling show of all time.
The risk that comes with leaving WWE has paid off for Rhodes. He felt as if he was being under-utilized by Vince McMahon and he has proved that to be true since leaving. During his time as a WWE Superstar, Rhodes bounced around from gimmick to gimmick. His final persona before he left? Stardust. But how exactly did that gimmick come to be?
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Well, apparently, Stephanie McMahon is at least partly to blame. Rhodes told the tale on a recent episode of Talk Is Jericho. "Stephanie McMahon, just randomly blurted out in gorilla [position], 'why don't you paint your face like your brother?'," Rhodes revealed. He tried to slink out before anyone realized what she had said but it was too late. Rhodes saw the look on the boss's face and he knew the Stardust seed had been planted.
After that, Mr. McMahon put Rhodes in touch with WWE creative services. The first designs they came up with were apparently pretty cool and Rhodes liked them. However, every time the chairman saw them, he would always select the design that most resembled Goldust. "Vince just kept picking the one that looked more and more like Goldust, more and more like Goldust, and I was just kind of like a Minidust by the end of it all."
Even after all that, Rhodes still did an extremely good job with the Stardust character. Yes, it was obvious that the reason he was given the gimmick was due to his brother, but he really did make it his own. He even won the Intercontinental Title while portraying Stardust. That being said, what he has done since hanging up his Stardust tights far exceeds anything he did in WWE.