While there could be more WrestleMania moments in his future after departing from AEW in a shocking turn of events, Cody Rhodes has already had several great matches at The Grandest Stage Of Them All. Over the years, the American Nightmare has competed in a real range of bouts at this event.
RELATED: Cody Rhodes' First 10 WWE PPV Matches, Ranked From Worst To Best
From being in highly featured singles matches to championship contests or gimmick bouts, Cody managed to do it all during his run with the company. While not every match was a classic that fans are going to remember forever, he always brought his best when it came to WrestleMania, which is reflected by his work.
Updated on 29th April 2022 by Andrew Kelly:Just when it seemed as though Cody Rhodes was in AEW for life, especially considering he was one of their founding fathers, the wrestling world was turned on its head when he left the company following the expiration of his contract. With the negative fan responses any time he was on screen, this was perhaps the correct call for him in hindsight. His WWE career to that point had been fine, although perhaps underwhelming, and his WrestleMania match history was very symbolic of that. Multi-man matches, getting squashed, bumped off the card, overshadowed, and just one sole victory to his name, summed up how he was presented in his first WWE run. At WrestleMania 38, Rhodes made a sensational return to WWE, with his entire presentation being the same as it was in AEW, which certainly shocked many fans. Now that he has another WrestleMania match in his back pocket, the top spot on this list may have just been shaken up and replaced.
7 Cody Rhodes (c) vs. The Big Show (Intercontinental Championship Match - WrestleMania 28)
The first time Cody Rhodes competed for gold at WrestleMania was in 2012. He walked in as Intercontinental Champion, but he did not leave with the title, being beaten by The Big Show. There was nothing particularly wrong with this match, however, they did not get much time to work, which stopped it from becoming a classic.
This one was a little over five minutes, but they did cram as much in as possible, which helped. They worked at a good pace throughout, telling the classic big man vs. little man match. Big Show hit a Spear to counter the Disaster Kick, which was unique, but the two men would go on to have more entertaining matches later.
* WrestleMania 28 Match Card & Results:
Sheamus defeated Daniel Bryan (c) (World Heavyweight Championship)
Kane defeated Randy Orton
Big Show defeated Cody Rhodes (c) (Intercontinental Championship)
Kelly Kelly & Maria Menounos defeated Beth Phoenix & Eve Torres
The Undertaker defeated Triple H (Hell in a Cell)
Team Johnny defeated Team Teddy (For Control of Raw & Smackdown)
CM Punk (c) defeated Chris Jericho (WWE Championship)
The Rock defeated John Cena
6 Cody Rhodes vs. Ted DiBiase Jr. vs. Randy Orton (WrestleMania 26)
Cody Rhodes got to make his WrestleMania debut in 2010, which was all about the implosion of Legacy. The storyline heading into this was nice, as the trio had proven to be an effective faction together. However, triple threat matches are tough to get right, especially in the undercard, and that was the case here.
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It was a fairly standard match, with the young wrestlers working together for a period, before Randy Orton eventually proved to be too much for the duo. The Viper got the win here, but the encounter itself was nothing special, despite the hard work of each wrestler involved. It was good, but not quite WrestleMania worthy.
* WrestleMania 26 Match Card & Results:
ShoMiz (c) defeated John Morrison & R-Truth (Unified WWE Tag Team Championship)
Randy Orton defeated Cody Rhodes & Ted DiBiase
Jack Swagger won the Money in the Bank Ladder Match
Triple H defeated Sheamus
Rey Mysterio defeated CM Punk
Bret Hart defeated Mr. McMahon (No Holds Barred Lumberjack)
Chris Jericho (c) defeated Edge (World Heavyweight Championship)
Alicia Fox, Maryse, Lay-Cool & Vickie Guerrero defeated Beth Phoenix, Eve Torres, Gail Kim, Kelly Kelly, & Mickie James
John Cena defeated Batista (c) (WWE Championship
The Undertaker defeated Shawn Michaels (Streak Vs Career)
5 Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal (WrestleMania 30)
This was the first year that WWE created the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal, and because of that the company did fill it with big stars. This year, a lot of fans felt that Cody Rhodes should have faced his brother, Goldust, but that didn't happen. Instead, both men got knocked out of this match straight after each other by Alberto Del Rio.
Cody didn't have a major involvement in this one, which was a shame, as he could have played a bigger role. However, this match was brilliant as far as battle royals go. The finish with Cesaro winning was incredible to see, and the overall story of the match was well told.
* WrestleMania 30 Match Card & Results:
Daniel Bryan defeated Triple H
The Shield defeated New Age Outlaws & Kane
Cesaro won the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal
John Cena defeated Bray Wyatt
Brock Lesnar defeated The Undertaker
AJ Lee won the Divas Invitational (Divas Championship)
Daniel Bryan defeated Randy Orton (c) & Batista (WWE World Heavyweight Championship)
4 Cody Rhodes vs. Rey Mysterio (WrestleMania 27)
When it comes to straight singles matches, this is one of the best Cody Rhodes had at WrestleMania, and the rivalry was one of the strongest of his entire WWE run. Rey Mysterio is one of the all-time greats, and they had excellent chemistry together inside the ring throughout this rivalry, which was well put together throughout.
Cody was the dastardly heel, and they called back to their feud throughout the match. They went back and forth with some nice technical, and high-flying wrestling which was well-paced. But the finish was smart, with Cody using Rey's knee brace against him, which was a moment from their rivalry beforehand.
* WrestleMania 27 Match Card & Results:
Edge (c) defeated Alberto Del Rio (World Heavyweight Championship
Cody Rhodes defeated Rey Mysterio
Big Show, Kane, Santino Marella, & Kofi Kingston defeated The Corre
Randy Orton defeated CM Punk
Michael Cole defeated Jerry Lawler
The Undertaker defeated Triple H (No Holds Barred)
John Morrison, Trish Stratus, & Snooki defeated Lay-Cool & Dolph Ziggler
The Miz (c) defeated John Cena (WWE Championship)
3 Intercontinental Championship Ladder Match (WrestleMania 31)
Ladder matches have been a staple of WrestleMania over the years, and this was one of the better ones. It featured a good mix of talent and in-ring styles, which was fun to see. Cody Rhodes was working as Stardust here, and he was not a favorite to win. However, he didn't let that stop him putting good moments together.
Whether it was hitting a trust fall to the outside of the ring or being suplexed onto a ladder by Wade Barrett, he did not shy away from the carnage. The match had some brilliant spots, including a brutal Dean Ambrose bump, and it left fans happy when Daniel Bryan won, which wrapped up a fun encounter.
* WrestleMania 31 Match Card & Results:
Daniel Bryan won a 7-man Ladder Match (Intercontinental Championship)
Randy Orton defeated Seth Rollins
Triple H defeated Sting (No Disqualification)
AJ Lee & Paige defeated The Bellas
John Cena defeated Rusev (c) (United States Championship
The Undertaker defeated Bray Wyatt
Seth Rollins defeated Brock Lesnar (c) & Roman Reigns (WWE World Heavyweight Championship)
2 Intercontinental Championship Ladder Match (WrestleMania 32)
For a second year in a row Stardust was in a ladder match for the Intercontinental Championship, and this was an incredible one. Stardust had a huge part to play here, unlike the previous encounter, and he was a true star in this one. He got to have the polka dot ladder, which created an emotional moment following the recent death of Dusty Rhodes at the time.
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He used the weapon to take everyone out, which fans went huge for. However, he was also involved in a major bump when he was on a ladder bridge which Sin Cara was sent into, seeing them both crash through. Throughout the encounter there were a lot of innovative moments, and it kicked off the show in a major way.
* WrestleMania 32 Match Card & Results:
Zack Ryder won a 7-man Ladder Match (Intercontinental Championship)
Chris Jericho defeated AJ Styles
League of Nations defeated The New Day
Brock Lesnar defeated Dean Ambrose (No Holds Barred Street Fight)
Charlotte defeated Sasha Banks & Becky Lynch (WWE Women’s Championship)
The Undertaker defeated Shane McMahon (Hell in a Cell)
Baron Corbin won the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal
The Rock defeated Erick Rowan
Roman Reigns defeated Triple H (c) (WWE World Heavyweight Championship)
1 * Cody Rhodes Vs Seth Rollins (WrestleMania 38 Night One)
In the build-up to this match, Seth Rollins had been trying in any way to gain a spot on the WrestleMania card, with Mr. McMahon stating that he had a mystery opponent for him. The lights went out, and when they came back on, Cody Rhodes was revealed as the surprise opponent, much to the elation of the audience, and, judging by the look on his face, the elation of Rhodes himself.
The match felt like a big-time battle between two top stars, with a slow start building up to crescendos and huge moves. The crowd were electric all the way through this match, and it featured everything that was required to ensure Rhodes’ comeback felt like a big deal. He would hit three Cross Rhodes in a row to defeat Rollins, who played his role wonderfully in making this match one of the best over the two nights of WrestleMania, with the match being perhaps second only to Becky Lynch vs Bianca Belair.
* WrestleMania 38 Night One Match Card & Results:
The Usos (c) defeated Shinsuke Nakamura & Rick Boogs (Smackdown Tag Team Championship)
Drew McIntyre defeated Baron Corbin
The Miz & Logan Paul defeated Rey & Dominik Mysterio
Bianca Belair defeated Becky Lynch (c) (Raw Women’s Championship)
Cody Rhodes defeated Seth Rollins
Charlotte Flair (c) defeated Ronda Rousey (Smackdown Women’s Championship)
“Stone Cold” Steve Austin defeated Kevin Owens (No Holds Barred)
