The in-ring gimmicks of wrestlers are mostly a product of either their or the company’s imagination. Sometimes, the characters are influenced by people in the real world as well. However, there are also instances when characters we see in movies end up being an inspiration for an in-ring persona. Well, Cody Rhodes, currently well-known as The American Nightmare, was once considered to play a gimmick inspired by Marvel’s Tony Stark.
Every fan knows that Cody left WWE in 2016 because he wasn’t happy with his creative direction. To be more specific, he was dissatisfied with the Stardust gimmick he was playing back then. However, there was one character that he rehearsed in the performance center but couldn’t make it to WWE TV.
An old video shows Cody Rhodes portraying a gimmick based on Marvel’s Tony Stark
Before leaving WWE, The American Nightmare turned every stone possible to find success. That included going back to the performance center under his father Dusty Rhodes’ wing. There, Cody Rhodes worked on several projects one of them being a character inspired by Marvel’s Tony Stark.
Recently, a clip was posted on Twitter that showed Cody Rhodes performing under a gimmick similar to Tony Stark. The video also features his wife, Brandi Rhodes, who was known as Eden back then. It showed Brandi complaining about how underappreciated her husband was despite being such a big star.
I just found out Cody Rhodes was working on a Tony Stark inspired character towards the end of his first WWE run which never saw the light of the day. pic.twitter.com/9n01JMvegL
— Humble Wrestling (@WrestlingHumble) March 29, 2023
In the video, fans can sense Cody Rhodes’ gimmick had a lot of resemblance with Tony Stark a.k.a Iron Man. However, the character didn’t get approval from the higher-ups and hence, could not make it to WWE TV.
The American Nightmare is all set to headline WWE’s biggest pay-per-view of the year
Cody Rhodes made an epic return to WWE last year at WrestleMania, and in less than a year, he has become the company’s biggest babyface. He has been undefeated ever since and in fact, is scheduled to headline WrestleMania 39.
The American Nightmare booked his ticket for this year’s Showcase of immortals by winning won the 2023 men’s Royal Rumble. This Sunday, he will square off against Roman Reigns for the Undisputed Titles.
Undisputed WWE Universal Champion #RomanReigns defends against #CodyRhodes at #WrestleMania!#UndisputedTitle pic.twitter.com/C5jbFd2MVm
— WWE WrestleMania (@WrestleMania) March 28, 2023
Nevertheless, The American Nightmare, Right Now, is one of the top merchandise sellers in WWE. That proves he can make any character work if given a bit of creative freedom. Unfortunately, fans will never see Cody Rhodes performing under the Tony Stark gimmick in WWE.
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