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WWE News: Cody Rhodes Forced To Change Name Upon WWE Departure

By Shawn Lealos
Published on: 06:45 PST, Sep 7, 2016

When Cody Rhodes left the WWE, it was under bad circumstances. Rhodes made strong comments after leaving the WWE about a pair of writers, one of which he said was more interested in chasing Divas than he was about writing good storylines. Cody also posted a photo of a piece of paper with names that he always wanted to wrestle and would get the chance to now that he was out of the WWE.

However, Dave Meltzer reported on Wrestling Observer Radio on Monday that Cody Rhodes will have to wrestle in upcoming matches without using his name. See, Rhodes real name is Cody Runnels, and while his father owned all rights to the name “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes, it was the WWE who requested that he use the name Cody Rhodes to play off his dad’s fame. Because of that, the WWE owns the name “Cody Rhodes” and they are blocking Cody from using the name.

This comes on the heels of the news that Cody Rhodes will be heading to Ring of Honor and TNA Impact Wrestling. Wrestle Zone reported that Rhodes would not only wrestle in the two promotions, but they won’t require him to do so under contract. However, both Ring of Honor and TNA Impact Wrestling have nationally broadcast television shows, so that is likely why the WWE is stepping up now to prevent him from capitalizing on a name they own the rights to. This is something that has rubbed Meltzer the wrong way.

“To me it’s like, they may have the legal right. But it feels so unfair to me that he’s not going to be able to use the name Cody Rhodes on television, because they own the name. And I just feel like, they did not create Dusty Rhodes.

“[Cody Rhodes] never worked for anyone but WWE. So he had no prior usage. But it’s like, the frickin’ Rhodes name goes back 50 years in this business. And he’s a member of that family. And WWE did not create Dusty Rhodes. They did not come up with the name Dusty Rhodes. By the time he got there, Dusty Rhodes was one of the three biggest attractions in the country, before he got there in the first place.”

Cody Rhodes has already wrestled since leaving the WWE and was allowed to use his name. He battled in PWG’s BOLA over the weekend, beating former NXT star Sami Callihan in the first round and then losing to Marty Scurll in the second round. Scurll went on to win the tournament, which made Rhodes’ loss something that helped put over the younger star. Cody also wrestled Zack Sabre Jr. at Evolve 66. He then lost to Chris Hero the next day. He also wrestled matches against Mike Bennett, Kurt Angle, and Sami Callihan at other shows as well.

Cody Rhodes also has another match scheduled against Kurt Angle and will then head to Ring of Honor and TNA Impact Wrestling. As the Inquisitr previously reported, Rhodes released a photo of the names he wants to wrestle. That list included BOLA, Kurt Angle, Chris Hero, and Mike Bennett. Cody also cut a promo in Evolve, a company that actually has a working arrangement with the WWE.

There are other names that he can wrestle in ROH and TNA Impact Wrestling, including Adam Cole, Dalton Castle, Moose, the Young Bucks, and Trevor Lee. He also put down that he wanted to get “the streamers thing” that Ring of Honor fans love to throw into the ring at famous and popular wrestlers. With that said, Cody Rhodes could wrestle six of the men that he had on his wish list during his ROH and TNA Impact Wrestling appearances.

The only names he would still need to get is Pay Buck, Shibata and Roderick Strong, the latter of which he may never get to wrestle with. WWE rumors state that Strong is headed to the WWE. Cody Rhodes still has some wrestlers to face off against, and he is also planning on moving into acting, with appearances on Arrow this season with his friend Stephen Amell.

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However, it looks like he will be doing it under his real name of Cody Runnels, unless Rhodes wants to come up with a new wrestling persona, which is unlikely. Fans will still get to see Cody Rhodes competing for them in the future, but they will have to wait and see what name he is allowed to wrestle under.

[Image via WWE]

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