Rare Footage Shows Cody Rhodes Working on a Version of MCU’s Tony Stark Aka Iron Man for WWE

Cody Rhodes headlining a WrestleMania would be unthinkable not that long ago. He left WWE in 2016 and it seemed a return was nigh impossible when he founded rival wrestling promotion AEW in 2019. However, as the old business adage goes ‘Never Say Never’, ‘The American Nightmare’ returned to the Stamford-based promotion last year amid much fanfare.

His reluctance to continue the Stardust gimmick was the primary reason behind his WWE exit. But many would not know that the former Intercontinental champion had a brand new character in the works who had an MCU connection, but sadly left the company before that.

Cody Rhodes was working on a gimmick before leaving WWE in 2016

Rhodes was working on a gimmick that was similar to the famous Marvel character Tony Stark aka Iron Man. In old footage that is doing rounds on the web, Rhodes can be seen with his wife Brandi Rhodes who went by the moniker Eden Stilles back then.

In the video she goes on to give a long account of why Rhodes deserves to be at the top of WWE. During the nearly two-minute long video ‘Rhodes Industries’ appears on the bottom left of the screen. Mysterious music also accompany the visuals, adding to the intrigue.

While it’s unclear why WWE did not go down this route as there could have been a lot of potential in the clearly negative shade character. There could be various issues from both sides why this was not taken forward.

Read More: Former Raw General Manager Points Out Why Cody Rhodes Is Still Miles Away From His Father Despite Being “Perfect”

During his initial run with the wrestling juggernaut, Rhodes portrayed a lot of gimmicks. His tremendous character work seems to have been forgotten by many.

Rhodes has portrayed various characters in WWE

His main roster run started back in 2007. However, his career kick-started when he aligned himself with Ted Di Biase and Randy Orton to form the stable ‘The Legacy’. The trio ran riot in the promotion with their villainous tactics and good run.

After going their separate ways the second-generation superstar would go on a singles run as ‘Dashing’ Cody Rhodes. Before uniting with his brother Goldust to form The Brotherhood in 2013. And then came the Stardust gimmick that was the final stop in his initial run with WWE.

The company might have missed a trick when it comes to Cody Rhodes’ Tony Starkesque character. ‘The American Nightmare’ wouldn’t care a jot about it now as he gears up for arguably the fight of his life.

Do you think Cody Rhodes’ Tony Stark character would have worked in WWE?

Let us know in the comments.

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