It’s been more than a year since Cody Rhodes parted ways with the WWE, and he’s had a pretty good run in the indies, all things considered. Many have argued that he is, in fact, in the golden age of his wrestling career, now that he’s free from the Stardust gimmick he hated, and free from a company that gave him so few opportunities to truly succeed in a decade-long tenure. But some believe that WWE will always be the best place for the “American Nightmare,” including a YouTube channel that used Cody’s image in the thumbnail for their video about former WWE Superstars who are tarnishing their legacy.

To be clear about the SportsEntertainment channel’s YouTube video about eight WWE wrestlers ruining their legacy, Rhodes was not actually included in the top eight, though he was featured in the thumbnail. The video included some of the “usual suspects” you’d expect in such a list like Alberto Del Rio, but nowhere was Rhodes mentioned in the video. Still, that was enough to elicit a reaction from the 32-year-old second-generation wrestler, who had the following to say on Twitter.

“Ha, I'm literally world champion in the best professional run of my career. Was this supposed to be ironic?”

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Following his comments about possibly being referred to as an ex-WWE guy who’s ruining his legacy, Rhodes received several replies from users, with many accusing SportsEntertainment of using Cody’s image in the video thumbnail as a clickbait tool. One user called SportsEntertainment out for having only 65 followers, a mere fraction of the 720,000 people who follow Rhodes on Twitter. Another user joked that if Rhodes was ruining someone’s legacy, it was that of Stardust, his much-maligned gimmick that was essentially another version of his brother Dustin's long-running Goldust character.

via si.com

Rhodes was only a few days shy of 21-years-old when WWE signed him to a developmental contract in 2006. He would join the main roster in 2007, and would go on to win multiple tag team championships with the likes of Hardcore Holly, Ted DiBiase Jr., and Goldust, as well as two Intercontinental Championships. Yet, main event success always seemed to elude Rhodes until he asked for his release from WWE in May of 2016.

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As you can see in the above list, many of our writers are cognizant of how Cody Rhodes has been a much happier, and we dare say, more successful man since leaving the WWE's fold last year. He's part of the most popular stable outside of the WWE in the Bullet Club, had recently gotten a world title shot in New Japan Pro Wrestling against Kazuchika Okada, and holds Ring of Honor's World Heavyweight Championship. If that isn't adding to the impressive Rhodes legacy started all those decades ago by his father Dusty, we don't know what is.