WWE Had Plans for Cody Rhodes’ Stardust Character to Wear a Mask

Cody Rhodes came back to WWE at WrestleMania 38 last year and wasted no time in making an impact after defeating Seth Rollins in his return match. Rhodes is a beloved babyface, but it wasn’t always like that for him. He hated his Stardust gimmick and it appears Rhodes refused to wear a Stardust mask that looked like a blown up condom.

In June 2014, Cody Rhodes debuted the character Stardust, which was a tribute to his brother Dustin Rhodes’ Goldust character. The two were paired up together for a while as well.

Despite being popular, the Stardust gimmick only made Cody Rhodes hate his position in WWE and it led to his exit in 2016. While speaking to Dale Download with Dale Earnhardt Jr, Cody looked back on the Stardust gimmick and revealed that he refused to wear a Stardust mask that looked like a blown up condom.

The biggest way to turn your fortunes around is to get in the best shape of your career. It’s still a vanity business. You’re still out there, half-naked, oiled up, and the guys behind the operation still have a love for bodybuilding. They’re in great shape and in custom suits. That’s one of the first things I tell people, because it helps the mindset too, ‘get in the best possible shape.’ Had I gotten in the best possible shape in my career and been like, ‘I’m telling you I want to be Cody Rhodes and not Stardust, let me get new gear and present that to you. Let me have this all done up.’ Instead of doing that, I just bottled. I let it swell. I thought, ‘if I do that, I still won’t (be pushed).’ That’s not the case. You get in the best shape of your career, it turns heads. If Stardust had 8% body fat and a six-pack and shredded and was handsome, they might be like, ‘What are we doing in this outfit?’

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t one point, I had the paint, but there was an actual mask that was pitched. This was an area where I spoke up. I put it on and it’s like a classic condom blowing up. It looked so bad. I get there is an element of humor to what I’m going to do, but they have to be laughing with you, they can’t be laughing at you. It looked like a condom meets Electro from the Spider-Man comics. I told Vince [Vince McMahon], ‘I can’t do the mask it looks so bad.’ I went and shaved my head like Dustin. I’m glad the mask never saw the light of day. Stardust had some milestones, and I did go into it committed to try and change it, but it wasn’t going to get me anywhere.”

We will have to wait and see what WWE has planned for Cody Rhodes as we head towards the next Premium Live Event. In the meantime, fans are glad they won’t have to see Stardust again.

What do you think of what Cody Rhodes said? Did you like the Stardust gimmick? Let us know in the comments!