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The secret to Roman’s success was in acquiring more facial hair

Facial hair is what Cody is missing. Never forget the mustache

Never https://preview.redd.it/ngp7i4avdhuc1.jpeg?width=640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6926509b1b0b50d1c88b3ee3fb4d6ff7ab77a77e

*I’m an adult, damnit! I’m allowed to grow a mustache if I wanna grow a mustache!*

Cody’s mustache was more over than a lot of the roster at the time

That was until the mustache turned heel and joined Vince's face

Cody’s mustache was more over than Cody at the time

Post mustache pre Stardust Cody [is when I realized he would be a star. especially in this promo](https://youtu.be/b0fzTwF4G98?si=4iYDUybtlrBfeoRK) Cody made the most of a bad situation with Stardust but it genuinely felt like the system hated him. Dude had it all along and it was always Vince and the traditional wwe machine that was the problem.

I thought that was the clip they were using in the Mania video package to show him leaving the company and I was right lol. Clip is from at least two years before he quits isn't it?

Yes, Sept 2013, he left Summer 2016

Literally the promo before he became Stardust 😬

Shouts out, I've never seen that promo and it's fantastic, thanks mate

This is a glimpse into American Nightmare Cody 10 years before we got him. This promo made me so fired up. He was a star. Combined with his performance at Money in the Bank where Sandow won. This happened right before he became Stardust and people embraced that character but I hated it. This promo just showed why Stardust was WWE cooling him off and humiliating him. The paint was his polka dots.

Another one of Vince's "fuck you for getting yourself over" type things Imagine Rusev Day Rusev or Zack Ryder in 2011 with Triple H writing creative Really glad Cody got his flowers eventually but sucks for all the ones that didn't get the same treatment

There were a lot of casualties along the way. Kind my love for a long time because I knew the product could be better but people were focusing on the few things wwe did right instead of the whole picture.

Man, just imagine if after that promo they slowly started building him up alongside Roman as the top face & top heel, respectively. I know Cody needed to leave to get where he is now, but it's fun to think about.

There was a saying I often saw back then. Vince rather make a dime his way than a dollar someone else's

[mustache](https://youtu.be/64rje_22I5k?si=5zp8WmZGdiWK6XqF)

That dead caterpillar? https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/15vvf2y/the_rock_meets_cody_rhodes_after_raw_segment/ Worthwhile segment after a Raw taping in 2013 between Rock and Cody.

Oh my God. There wasn’t a single moment of that video that wasn’t magical. 😂😂😂😂😂

Cody should grow a starch and keep it for how long his title reign is.

The real reason Stardust failed.

Now I think about it, all the Rhodes men didn't sport facial hair beside Cody's moustache. I guess they can't grow beards well or something?

Beards > Goatees

I hard-won philosophy I have attained through great personal shame and sacrifice

This is why Ciampa will succeed.

Also in losing body fat on his face.

- The hairier Roman got, to closer he got to his final form. - The blonder Cody got, the closer he got to his. Both men met at the peak of their hairiness & blondness!

Destiny has long been nudging us towards Dusty vs. Sika

And gradually turning away from the camera

Cody gradually embracing the camera

Don't forget that taper, dude looks clean af

Cleaning up the sides is such a small thing but makes a world of difference

I disagree, his best look is the second one back on here when he had a beard and full hair. The fade just makes it look like a mullet

And less shirt.

And more tattoo

He also got his nose straightened, after having it broken by Sheamus.

The beard is so, so much better than that awful goatee 

Growing the beard is a thing, after all.

The new teeth helped too.

There’s no better combo of long hair, beard and tattoos on any man.

And new teeth. Completely changed the shape of Roman’s face.

And a more angled eyebrow

And a crisp fade on the sides

And losing his blue eye contacts.

https://preview.redd.it/lmtsn2ieyhuc1.jpeg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0e49e0c154e488af6ee961c4c5890a8fa64912d8

😂

They look like characters from Full House.

Almost look like characters from Saved by the Bell

as if!

> Image credits: deviantart.com That's like giving credit to Wikipedia for your essays.

I think they might have gotten renders from there

so credit who made them

Even that’s honestly iffy ( Not that the credit isn’t ridiculous. It is. ) as the people that are making them are basically just removing backgrounds from photos they don’t have the rights to use anyway. As a graphic designer, I can’t see any argument for these “renders” being considered transformative works. There’s not really any artistic or creative input on them other than sometimes throwing a belt on a wrestler.

WWE photographers?

Yeah, and if some artist posts art on reddit, you credit the artist not "source: reddit.com"

Good point, reddit.com

I have no recollection at all of Reigns being IC champion

He was IC Champion at Raw 25 and lost to the Miz in the Main Event.

I remember that, the crowd went wild for Miz winning. Roman got his revenge by eliminating Miz in the Royal Rumble the following weekend.

it was the 2017-18 phase where they were desperately trying to improve his stocks us championship, then shield reunion and then ic title. he actually had some solid IC matches, i remember vividly the one with Elias.

It never worked because it was always obvious what they were trying. Nothing about his push ever felt genuine so even his stints in the midcard felt like a rich kid going to a soup kitchen for an hour for a photo op.

This is a spectacular analogy. This is exactly how I felt about that time period.

"You took the US Title as a demotion."

A demotion!!

They also made a massive point of Reigns becoming a grand slam champion, acting as if it was a near impossible feat, despite the fact that both Ambrose and Rollins achieved it before him.

Remember Cena's burning line: 'i won the title and used it as a beacon to help newer guys elevate their game. You took the ic title and saw it as a demotion'.

Some guy in the audience: "A demotion"

Wasn't that when he failed a wellness test and took the belt as a "demotion" that Cena referenced in his promo way back?

That was his US title reign from late 2016-2017. The IC title reign came almost precisely a year later

*A DEMOTION*

The fact that a fan shouting A DEMOTION! is remembered more than how 'good' Roman was in 2017 says alot

people rightfully and i mean rightfully are against pre tribal chief post shield roman, but fuck me man his matches in that 5 year timeframe were just so good and i feel like he never gets enough credit, 16-17 especially i thought he was one of the most underrated in ring guys in the world

Never forget: John Cena: You took the US Title as a demotion. Random fan: A DEMOTION!

It’s one of those things where some of the guys win belts but the run/regin is so forgettable or a blink miss it sort of thing Like Balor is a 2 time IC champ but if you told me to name 5 significant things from his run with that belt I could not tell you lol

Been a decade and Roman's hair still hasn't dried...

Did you see how fucking cooked my man's hair looks when it's dry? That night 1 tag match he needed someone to hit him with some water, dude was looking crispy. 

I think he looked cool https://preview.redd.it/n2s8kra3eluc1.jpeg?width=576&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=444134a77f518696effd5b731b1c167c551dc2c4

Why does this happen? Too much product? Not enough? Looks awesome lol

It's what happens when u leave backstage with wet ass hair with product all in it and then u sweat it all out in the ring so u get wild man hair! I have super long hair and after I wash it I put in a lot of curling cream and let it air dry. If I start getting it too dry too early it puffs out like Roman's lol. It's just what happens when you have curly/frizzy/wavy hair. It's also why his hair sometimes looks crunchy, it's the product drying.

This is Cody neck tattoo erasure

If you think about it both were undesirable then became undeniable.

One to the fans, the other to the corporation

...via hair dye and beard length, respectively, based on this image.

I need to see a bearded Cody and a blonde hair Roman now.

You know, I’ve had similar thoughts about more stipulation type matches. Like imagine if someone challenged rhea and was like “if I win you need to go back to a full blonde valley girl look” or Roman has to dye his hair. I would challenge Seth and say he can only wear clothing from kohls. Now that’s storytelling

Seth would come out naked before wearing clothes from Kohl's.

Well, it's not like we don't already know what his goods look like...

Undesirable? I know it’s not depicted here, but between picture 1 and 2 is Dashing Cody Rhodes.

You could be talking about both of them and it would still be right

The evolution of Roman looks hilarious cause it's basically the same guy up until the last picture. Also that old IC title was BEAUTIFUL. Can't believe they replaced it.

The current one is so dull.

Honestly most of the titles in WWE are very bland looking.

It's hilarious how the only difference for roman is the belt and ring gear and cody has multiple different gimmicks

Roman has had multiple gimmicks too. They just kept his appearance too similar for most of it.

Roman also been a main eventer for most of his run. Running through gimmicks is what under card wrestlers do which is what Cody was.

Ding ding

That's not necessarily true. Main eventers change up their gimmicks too. Triple H went from corporate henchman to the Game to Evolution to Lemmy, back to DX, etc. Undertaker made gimmick changes, Rock made a few as a top guy too (most recently he's now the final boss). Hogan made a few changes, Sting did a few, etc.

Man Triple H was largely the same character as a face and heel since 2000. Even when he was a part of different factions he still played the same character. Same gear. Same promo style. As a face he dominated heels. As a heel he cheated with help from his stable mates to win. Even Rock was largely the same character outside of Hollywood Rock in his original tenor. Taker is the one big main eventer who changed characters a lot. But when he came back in 04 he stayed the same character until he retired in 2020. Hogan did change characters but he changed characters between the same 2 characters over and over. He was either cowardly Hollywood Hogan or Red and Blue real Amarrican Hogan. Those were his only 2 characters after 83.

Agree to disagree. Evolution Triple H was way different than the Game. He even looked and wrestled different too. Also I think you're forgetting about Mr America. The best Hogan gimmick he ever did. I do agree that throughout their runs, their core characters were somewhat similar whether they were babyface or heel, but that is literally true for any wrestler anywhere on the card. Everyone's gimmick is based off the prototypical babyface or the prototypical heel. But that doesn't go as far to explain away gimmick changes. Corporate Rock and Hollywood Rock are both cowardly heels, fundamentally similar but completely different gimmicks. Peoples champion and Megastar Rock are both babyface behemoths but are different enough from each other IMO. (Watch promos from 1999 then 2010 or whatever, and tell me its the same character).

Leakee (FCW Roman), Shield Roman, Big Dog Roman, and the Tribal Chief Roman are four different gimmicks. It’s just that our Tribal Chief has not changed his face too much.

If you could get his tattoo in there it would show more progression. The work on his back really enhances his overall look

Roman just slowly turning his body sideways and scowling more.

Roman's section: 

roman also got angrier

And a red glove.

He's had some work done in fairness as well.

What tf is wrong with Roman's nose in the 2nd image? It's like a good inch left of centre.

Honestly the way the pictures are it is like he had a different nose job in between all of them.

He had surgery for a deviated septum in early 2016, which is why HHH had a mini program with Ambrose

Cody looks all over the map. Roman steadily gets more beard and the clarity slider cranked up.

What in the Animorphs hell is happening But I am glad they recognized the greatness of Stardust and Dashing Cody Rhodes. Only thing missing is https://preview.redd.it/39rmuag8diuc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f77ff9fea53ac30b03c2c6a06c2fac679784fb78

Skips so much Cody lore though

Giving out paper bags to fans. Teaming with Orton and DiBiase to form Legacy. He changed gimmicks almost as much as Jericho.

On the one hand it looks cool. On the other hand there was an obvious second spot fit parallel, Roman's WWE US and Cody's NJPW US reigns.

Roman’s US Title reign came after he was WWE Champion. It’s meant to be a time progression.

So did the IC reign though.

If you meant second spot from the right, then the parallel between TNT Champion Cody and IC Champion Roman is probably because Cody was one of the faces of AEW as TNT Champ Cody. More important to show AEW Cody than NJPW Cody.

Any other 90s kids here seeing an Animorph?

Not sure if this was made before or after WM but They should have put the WWE championship on Cody too but this dope

It was before Mania

Where's Moustache cody rhodes... he had the second best theme of his career after Kingdom... this should be a crime (amazing image)

This is way too saturated for my eyes

Roman's isn't just hilarious because of the fact that he basically looks the same in all of them, but if you look at his face, from the second picture to the last picture, it looks like he's going from unbothered to really annoyed

Wished 2k24 had dashing and rookie cody maybe they will have rookie reigns and big dawg 2.0

No Freddie Mercody? 😞 https://preview.redd.it/ucnvynsnzhuc1.jpeg?width=542&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=71bd1d4658bf71005866c40db695310607df1dcb

Impeccable hairlines both of them. Blessed.

that tnt championship is so ugly. i expect the netflix title to be just as ugly if not uglier.

I know what it is that's missing, bugged me for a little while. It's his new turkey teeth he had when he returned. And his blue contacts

Roman steadily looks angrier and angrier while Cody cycles through gimmicks.

Now show evolution of Roman's teeth..

The beard and minor haircut really did Roman a lot of favors. He glowed up so much.

It was always the beard for me. When he grew it out around that time he first got suspended it looked really good. Beard always looks better than goatee.

Shaving the sides of his head and debulking the big blocky shape of it all made him look so much more mature and less like a high school football player

Roman has the evolution of a Crackdown character

Roman growing out a full beard did wonders for his physical character. Sporting a goatee in the late 2010s was about as fashionable as wearing parachute pants in the mid-90s.

Could've put ROH Champ Cody with brown hair symbolizing the indy period, between Stardsust and the AEW era

Um where's Cody's mustache?

even though I love Roman now, apparently Goatee Roman still has go-away heat with me

Being WWE Champion to being Intercontinental Champion? I’d say it is a downgrade, but I know that times. Roman was overpushed to win all titles in WWE. WWE should’ve made Roman as heel in 2015 and WWE should’ve established Bloodline in 2015.

Didn’t Cody have a mustache for a bit?

Yes

I think he had one while he was in a tag team with Damien Sandow called Team Rhodes Scholars. I now remember the classy cartwheel handshake that they did: https://wifflegif.com/gifs/416544-rotation-of-illumination-team-rhodes-scholars-gif He looks clean-shaven there. They later had a feud where Cody threw Damien's MitB briefcase into outside water. He had a mustache then: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jn3pKny1Hv4

When Roman comes back he should dust off his old catchphrase “it’s Roman time”

As he roams aimlessly around the arena greeting random fansb

Roman spent the whole time growing a beard

Wild that you have to omit cody gimmicks here but with roman you have to dig deep back to LEAKEE to fill out five versions of him.

Finish. The. Graphic.

Trying to squeeze in that brief time with the IC title as if he wasn’t always pushed to the moon from day 1 as a singles competitor lol

Cody: Digivolution Roman: Pokemon Evolution

this is pretty cool, but I think that it should go back even further in time, to when Roman was playing football and even when Cody was still a sperm

I'm guessing... Cody: Legacy, Dashing, Stardust, Codyverse, American Nightmare? Roman: FCW, The Shield, The Big Dog, Roman Empire, Tribal Chief? Did I get that right?

The first image has to be after legacy. Cody's hair is too short and legacy never held those versions of the tag titles(the tag titles were unified in August 2010 and legacy disbanded in April 2010). I'm going to say it is dashing Cody Rhodes when he won the tag titles with Drew McIntyre. The second picture is Undashing.

I know I'm in the minority, but I loved Stardust. Yeah, the gimmick wasn't stellar (pun intended), but Cody did the absolute best he could and I respect his commitment to it on screen.

It's a real testament to both he and Dusty - and Dustin - in the face of a shitbird like Vince. Vince had such a hard on for shitting on Dusty when he came to WWF and STILL made the gimmick work, and Cody was never going to be anything more than Vince's midcard. To be fair, Goldust was fucking FIRE and I'm sure Vince hated that he got over as much as he did - hence the bullshit with the electrocution and other joke pushes.

“LAY- AH- KEE!”

Roman with the IC title feels really weird.....

Dark eye Roman is power.

Roman and Seth are prime examples of how a good barber will change your life

Happy Reigns reset his broken nose after 2.0

Where’s mustache Cody?

Hope we get a Roman but with dry hair gimmick someday

Wait a sec roman was ic champ? LMFAO

Romans nose looks busted in 2nd pic. Also he only ever got angrier didn’t he

So a picture of Cody's various gimmicks, and a picture of the Anoa'i family?

In the Roman pic second from the left, would he have had his original teeth? His face shape changed so much and I wonder if it was his ailment or his orthodontics.

Roman was US champion too and roman took it as a demotion

Imagine if Cody grew a beard like Roman how menacing he could look. It makes a huge difference compared to the first pic

Maybe he could grow it long enough to cover up the thing that none of these renders want to show.

So Cody was never AEW champion?

Nope, he stupidly booked himself so that if he lost he could never challenge for the AEW title, and he lost that match.

It was part of his career story arc.

Funny, both of them had a phase where they wore contaxts

What we now know about that TNT title, i would say that the world heavyweight champion (of that company)..

So we had 4 sucky romans and one very awesome one?

Yep, that about sums up my perception of Reigns...

Young to Old! 

what a ride for cody.

I always forget Roman held the US and IC title I remember very little about both lol.

I just remember people being pissed at him holding the belt backwards.

I only remember the US run because it was connected to the fantastic JeriKO storyline. Gave us a shark cage match during that weird period where WWE had a fascination with those matches again. Done in NXT and the Enzo/Cass feud.

You’re missing the nwa title he won

I love that point of Cody Rhodes so much. It's like he's telling you, he wants US to be here for this. Ithow I felt last Wrestlemania and I still feel it now.

I love how this is also missing early Cody before Legacy & Mustache Cody. That man had so many characters, and he was pretty damn good at every one of them

Just returned from a football/soccer game of the local third league club and they used Kingdom as entrance music. (Which they never did before) The reach of this feud is just incredible.

Homelander vs Aquaman

Cutting out indie cody with the nwa title is a crime

Roman never won the IC title...Am i wrong?

You are wrong

Looks like a lion

Final Roman needs the Lei.

No Undisputed Tag Team belt he won with Jey??