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WWE STAR ANNOUNCES HE HAS REQUESTED RELEASE FROM COMPANY

Cody Runnels aka Cody Rhodes/Stardust just wrote the following on his Twitter account:

 

We are told that Runnels and his brother Dustin (Goldust) left this past Tuesday's Smackdown taping before the taping began filming, although whether that was a sign of something being amiss remains to be seen. Cody Runnels' wife Brandi (Eden) also works for WWE as a ring announcer and backstage interviewer.  She wrote on Twitter that she "Could not be any prouder or more supportive", obviously in reference to her husband's decision.

Rhodes, 30, has been signed to WWE since 2006 when he was sent to then-WWE developmental Ohio Valley Wrestling, where his mic work and in ring work both stood out while part of a tag team with Shawn Spears (now NXT talent Tye Dillinger).  He was brought to the main roster a year later, initially working as part of a tag team with veteran Bob Holly.  Rhodes turned on Holly during an angle where Ted DiBiase Jr. debuted, challenging for the WWE Tag Team belts.  Rhodes and DiBiase became the new champions, setting the stage for the Legacy stable with Randy Orton and Manu (who did not last long during that run).

Rhodes was part of Legacy for three years and it appeared that when the duo would break away from Orton, they would be set up as babyfaces, specifically DiBiase who was poised to go to the next level, but for whatever reason, WWE dropped the storyline after the breakup.  Rhodes was turned into "Dashing" Cody Rhodes, doing a takeoff of "American Psycho" character Patrick Bateman, as a villain obsessed with his good looks and presentation.  When Rhodes was legitimately injured by Rey Mysterio, he returned wearing a protective mask.

The next chapter for Rhodes was winning the Intercontinental championship, complete with re-introducing the old, classic version of the belt, which he had made with his own money to show the company that it was a worthwhile idea.  He held the belt for over 200 days and after losing it, was put together as part of a tag team with Damian Sandow.  When the team ran it's course, they had a short feud.

The Rhodes family, together for the first time as a unit in WWE, were a big part of Cody's next chapter as he and his brother Dustin (Goldust) as well as their father WWE Hall of Fame Dusty Rhodes were featured in a storyline where Rhodes and his family lost their jobs as the result of the machinations of The Authority, eventually winning them back after defeating The Shield at a Battleground PPV.

Firmly entrenched in a tag team with his brother, WWE did a storyline where Cody didn't feel he was a worth partner for his brother.  Goldust tried a number of other partners at his behest but in the end, Cody unveiled himself as Stardust, a wrestling name he wanted to use all the way back in High School.  The two worked together for a time before Stardust turned heel.  The original idea was to have a big Wrestlemania face-off between the brothers, but WWE opted not to go in that direction.  Since becoming Stardust, Rhodes feuded with "Arrow" star Stephen Ammel and briefly was joined by The Ascension. 

Rhodes paid tribute to his father, who died in 2015, at Wrestlemania 32 with a polka dot-themed outfit and ladder during a Ladder match for the WWE Intercontinental championship.  He also appeared with the rest of the Rhodes family to help present a trophy to the first annual Dusty Rhodes Tag Classic tournament winners.  Rhodes has intimated on social media that he planned to work on a book about his father.

As a performer, Rhodes was always considered to be very good in the ring and pretty much got anything that was given to him over, but was never positioned as a top tier name in the company.  Undoubtedly, he was one of the hardest working in the ring and had a great deal of finesse as a performer.

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