Cody Rhodes

Cody Rhodes
Birth name	Cody Garrett Runnels
Ring names	Cody Rhodes Cody Runnels Stardust Cody
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight	220 lb (100 kg)
Born	June 30, 1985 (1985-06-30)
Birth Place	Marietta, Georgia, U.S.
Resides	Lutz, Florida, U.S.
Spouse(s)	Brandi Rhodes (m. 2013)
Billed from	Charlotte, North Carolina Marietta, Georgia Stars of the Milky Way The Fifth Dimension
Trainer	Al Snow Bruno Sasso Dusty Rhodes Glacier
Debut	2006

Cody Runnels (born June 30, 1985), better known by the ring name Cody Rhodes, is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is currently signed to the WWE, performing on the Raw brand, where he is the WWE Champion in his first reign.

Runnels, the son of the late WWE Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes and the half-brother of WWE wrestler Goldust, previously worked in WWE under the ring names Cody Rhodes and later Stardust. After an amateur wrestling career that resulted in becoming a two-time Georgia state champion, he followed his father and older brother's footsteps into the professional ranks and joined WWE. After becoming a Triple Crown Champion in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), WWE's developmental territory at the time, he was elevated to the main roster, where he became a two-time Intercontinental Champion. A prolific tag team wrestler, Rhodes has won five tag team championships (three World Tag Team Championships and two WWE Tag Team Championships) with four separate tag team partners. Along with Goldust, he also won the 2013 Tag Team of the Year Slammy Award. Runnels left WWE after requesting his release in May 2016.

Following his departure from WWE, Runnels began wrestling in the international independent circuit and found success in numerous promotions. In the space of a year, he competed at WWE's WrestleMania, Pro Wrestling Guerrilla's (PWG) Battle of Los Angeles, ROH's Final Battle and NJPW's Wrestle Kingdom events, as well as making his debut for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) at Bound for Glory in a non-competing capacity. Runnels has also wrestled for WhatCulture Pro Wrestling (WCPW), where he is a former and the longest reigning WCPW Internet Champion; Northeast Wrestling (NEW), where he is the current NEW Heavyweight Champion; Alpha-1 Wrestling (A1), where he is one-half of the A1 Tag Team Champions with Ethan Page; and Global Force Wrestling, where he was the one time and final GFW Nex*Gen Champion. Rhodes returned to the WWE roughly a year after his release taking part in the World Cup of Wrestling.

Professional wrestling career

Return to the WWE (2017–2019)

In May 2017 Rhodes returned to the WWE as part of the World Cup of Wrestling, he took part in the United States qualifying bracket which he won defeating Roman Reigns in the quarter-finals, AJ Styles in the semi-finals and Matt Sydal in the final to qualify for the main tournament in July.

At the main tournament Rhodes was drawn against the winner of the South Korean bracket Monzkid in the first round, he defeated him to face the German winner Alexander Wolfe. It was also confirmed Rhodes had since a zero days contract allowing Rhodes to work for the WWE when he wants a similar contract to that of Will Ospreay. During the live finale Rhodes defeated Shinsuke Nakamura to qualify for the final before defeating Tyler Bate in the final to win the World Cup of Wrestling.