“After 8/19.”
This was the sole caption below Cody Rhodes‘ list, following his shock release from the WWE.
In May 2016, he was granted his release from the WWE, after a tough few years in the company.
Cody Rhodes was seen as a future world champion earlier in his career, but had soon fallen into midcard obscurity as the embarrassing character known as “Stardust“.
After his release, Cody Rhodes has 90 days before he begun to make his mark on the indepedent scene, and went out on his own for the first time in his career.
It was a scary time, but one he was looking forward to doing, with a view of raising his stock and coming back to the WWE as a bigger star than before he left.
Whilst his journey would take him all over the world, and to big companies like ROH, NJPW, TNA and even helping to form All Elite Wrestling, he left the WWE with a simple list, with 14 goals for him to achieve.
Did Cody Rhodes achieve everything on his list? This is what we’re looking into, in this article.
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Cody Rhodes List
Cody Rhodes’ list, published after his release from the WWE in 2016, detailed 14 different goals he wanted to achieve in wrestling.
Some of them are simply names of wrestlers he wanted to wrestler, as some of the “dream matches” he had on the indies.
Others indicate things he wanted to experience, such as the streamers that ROH fans throw at the main event acts before their matches.
In this article, we’ll look at the 14 things Cody Rhodes wanted to do on the indies, and see if he completed everything on his list.
Adam Cole
The first name on the list wa somebody who would become heavily linked with Cody Rhodes.
Prior to signing with NXT in 2017, Adam Cole and Cody Rhodes were a big part of Bullet Club in ROH and NJPW, but never faced off in singles action in those promotions.
In fact, Adam Cole vs Cody Rhodes only happened once, on the 26th May, 2017. It took place on the NEW Spring Slam Tour, and saw Cole try to dethrone Rhodes as the NEW Heavyweight Champion.
Adam Cole signed with NXT in 2017, removing any possibility of a rematch. Cole did join Cody Rhodes in AEW briefly, but The American Nightmare re-signed with WWE back in April 2022.
Dalton Castle
Cody Rhodes has wrestled Dalton Castle on a number of occasions, most notably during their feud over the ROH Championship in 2016.
It was actually Cody Rhodes who dropped the ROH Championship to Dalton Castle, at ROH Final Battle 2017.
BOLA
Cody Rhodes achieved his dream of competing in Pro-Wrestling Guerrila’s famous tournament in 2016.
The American Nightmare wrestling in the Battle of Los Angeles (BOLA) tournament in 2016, competing in a series of matches in front of a packed crowd.
He beat Sami Callihan in the first round, before losing to his former Bullet Club teammate Marty Scurll in the quarter-finals.
Scurll went on to win the whole tournament, defeating Trevor Lee and Will Ospreay in the final.
Angle
Cody Rhodes wrestled Kurt Angle on the indies a number of times, during Angle’s tour after leaving TNA. He would sign for WWE soon after, but had a variety of matches all over the world before that.
They wrestled twice in NEW, including in a steel cage match at NEW Wrestlefest XXI.
They also wrestled in a match in the Youtube promotion WCPW which later changed its name to Defiant. You can watch the match at WCPW True Legacy in the video below.
Hero
At EVOLVE 67, Cody Rhodes wrestled against Chris Hero. Hero was one of the top wrestlers on the indies, and had become one of the best workers in the entire world.
Chris Hero beat Cody Rhodes, thanks to interference from Drew McIntyre, but The American Nightmare ticked another match off his list.
“The Miracle”
Cody Rhodes was referring to Mike Bennett when he wrote “The Miracle” on his famous list.
The former WWE and current ROH star was a fixture in Impact Wrestling at the time, and was one of the names that Rhodes was dying to wrestle on the independent scene.
On the 13 October 2016 IMPACT Wrestling broadcast, Cody Rhodes finally wrestled Mike Bennett in a good match. Cody won that match, and followed it up with a NEW Heavyweight Championship win over “The Miracle” the following year.
MOOSE
Moose defended his Impact Grand Title against Cody Rhodes, on the February 3rd, 2017 episode of Impact Wrestling.
Cody Rhodes lost to Moose, in what is the pairs only match against one another.
Pat Buck
After wrestling him multiple times in OVW, when he was learning to wrestle in WWE developmental, Cody Rhodes wrestled Pat Buck once more once he was released by the company.
He took on Buck at the WrestlePro event in October 2016, defeating him in a single match.
The Streamers Thing
The Streamers Thing was a reference to the practice in Ring of Honor, back in the mid 2010s.
Before big matches, fans would shower the wrestlers with streamers, during the ring announcements. It was seen as a mark of respect, and something Rhodes felt the need to experience once.
He did just that, before the Cody Rhodes vs Kenny Omega match at Supercard of Honor XII. This was the first time they’d faced one-on-one, and is a dream match for AEW fans.
The Young Bucks
While Cody Rhodes did team up with The Young Bucks in multiple matches, as part of Bullet Club and The Elite, he only wrestled against the duo twice.
The first time Cody wrestled against The Young Bucks was was on the first Jericho Cruise, which took place in 2018. In it, The Young Bucks teamed with Chris Jericho, to take on the trio of Cody Rhodes, Kenny Omega and Marty Scurll.
The second was on the second ever AEW show. Cody Rhodes teamed with Dustin Rhodes as The Brotherhood to battle the Young Bucks, in a match that has gone down as a classic match in AEW history.
Trevor Lee
Cody Rhodes wrestled Trevor Lee three times in his career, most notably in PWG.
At PWG Only Kings Understand Each Other, Trevor Lee defeated Cody Rhodes in a singles match, before going on to sign for WWE.
He currently works for their NXT brand, wrestling under the name Cameron Grimes.
Shibata
Sadly, Cody Rhodes never got a singles match with Katsuyori Shibata.
The Wrestler never had a big feud with Bullet Club when Cody was active in NJPW, and was forced to retire from wrestling after an injury against Kazuchika Okada in 2017 (albeit temporarily).
The only match that involved both Cody Rhodes and Katsuyori Shibata was at the ROH/NJPW Honor Rising: Japan 2017 show.
In it, Cody Rhodes teamed with “Hangman” Adam Page (as Bullet Club) to take on the duo Shibata and Jay Lethal.
By the time Shibata had un-retired and wrestled in AEW, Cody Rhodes had signed for WWE, with no chance of a singles match against the Japanese legend.
Personal Ring Announcer
On multiple occasions, Cody Rhodes utilised his wife as his own personal ring announcer.
Brandi Rhodes was formerly a ring announcer for the WWE, going by the name Eden Stiles.
She announced many high profile matches in the WWE, so was the perfect choice for Cody Rhodes personal ring announcer.
Roderick Strong
Roderick Strong is the one that got away. The pair remained separated for years, with Roderick Strong signing for WWE not long after Rhodes exited the company.
They did have some crossover, after Rhodes signed for WWE in 2022. However, Strong was stuck in NXT for the entirety of the time they were both signed for WWE.