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Cody Alexander Biography & Facts

Cody Garrett Runnels Rhodes (born Cody Garrett Runnels; June 30, 1985) is an American professional wrestler. As of April 2022, he is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand and is the current Undisputed WWE Universal Champion, recognized as both the WWE Champion and WWE Universal Champion in his first reign with each. He is also known for his time in All Elite Wrestling (AEW) from 2019 to 2022, where he served as an executive vice president and was the inaugural and a record-tying three-time AEW TNT Champion. The son of wrestler Dusty Rhodes and the half-brother of wrestler Dustin Rhodes, he rose to prominence during his first tenure with WWE from 2006 to 2016. He adopted various gimmicks under his real name before being repackaged as a melodramatic spin-off of Dustin's Goldust character named Stardust. He also wrestled for promotions such as Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), and Ring of Honor (ROH). Outside of wrestling, he served as a judge on the competition series Go-Big Show and starred with his wife Brandi Rhodes on the reality show Rhodes to the Top. After an amateur wrestling career that earned him two Georgia state championships, Rhodes joined WWE in 2006 and was initially assigned to its developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), where he became a Triple Crown Champion. He joined WWE's main roster in 2007 and throughout his WWE career, became a two-time Intercontinental Champion and a prolific tag team wrestler, winning eight world tag team championships (three World Tag Team Championships, four WWE/Raw Tag Team Championships, and one SmackDown Tag Team Championship) with five separate partners; his fourth Raw Tag Team Championship and one SmackDown Tag Team Championship were held together as the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship. Following his departure from WWE in May 2016, Rhodes began wrestling on the independent circuit and making several appearances in TNA, where he wrestled under the mononym Cody due to WWE owning the "Cody Rhodes" name until giving it up in 2020. From early 2016 to early 2017, he competed at WWE's WrestleMania, NJPW's Wrestle Kingdom, and ROH's Final Battle events, as well as appearing for TNA's Bound for Glory event. In September 2017, he wrestled in ROH, where he became a one-time ROH World Champion. He would later become a one-time IWGP United States Heavyweight Champion in NJPW and a one-time ROH World Six-Man Tag Team Champion (with Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson). In 2018, Rhodes, along with the Jacksons, promoted an independent pay-per-view event called All In that took place in September. This event, in association with ROH, marked a significant moment in professional wrestling history by becoming the first non-WWE or World Championship Wrestling (WCW) promoted event in the United States to sell 10,000 tickets since 1993. The success of All In was instrumental in inspiring the formation of AEW in January 2019. At the event, he won the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship from Nick Aldis as part of ROH's partnership with the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), marking the first time the championship had been won by both a father and son. In January 2019, Rhodes was named as an executive vice president of the newly formed AEW, where he would also wrestle. While there, he had critically acclaimed matches with his half-brother Dustin, Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara, and Brodie Lee, in addition to becoming the inaugural AEW TNT Champion. After failing to negotiate a new contract, he departed AEW in February 2022. Two months later, he returned to WWE at WrestleMania 38 and defeated Seth "Freakin" Rollins. He then won both the 2023 and 2024 men's Royal Rumble matches, becoming the fourth wrestler to achieve back-to-back victories at the event and the first since "Stone Cold" Steve Austin (who won in 1997 and 1998). At WrestleMania XL, Rhodes won his first world championship in WWE, ending Roman Reigns' WWE Universal Championship reign of 1,316 days, in the process becoming a WWE Triple Crown winner. He is the first member of the Rhodes family to win a WWE world championship, and specifically, the WWE Championship, as the WWE and Universal titles are held together as the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. Early life Rhodes was born Cody Garrett Runnels in Marietta, Georgia, on June 30, 1985, the son of Michelle Rubio and professional wrestler Dusty Rhodes. He is of Cuban descent through his maternal grandfather. He has a sister named Teil in addition to his paternal half-brother and fellow professional wrestler Dustin and a paternal half-sister named Kristin, who is a former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader. He is the nephew of professional wrestlers Jerry Sags and Fred Ottman, and the godson of professional wrestler Magnum T. A., who was present at both Rhodes' birth and baptism. He legally changed his surname to "Runnels Rhodes" as a teenager. Rhodes attended Lassiter High School and had a successful high school wrestling career. He placed sixth in the 171 lb (78 kg) division as a sophomore. As a junior, he won the Georgia state tournament at 189 lb (86 kg) in 2003 and repeated as champion his senior year. He had planned to wrestle collegiately at Penn State University, but decided to become a professional wrestler instead. During his time in high school, Rhodes also acted as a referee in his father's Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling promotion. After graduating high school, Rhodes attended Howard Fine Acting School in Los Angeles for a year. Professional wrestling career World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE (2006–2016) Ohio Valley Wrestling (2006–2007) Rhodes credits his father for starting to train him as a wrestler from the age of 12, which was limited mainly to simple fundamentals. From there, his training was provided by Al Snow, Danny Davis, Randy Orton, and Ricky Morton. Using his birth name Cody Runnels, he began wrestling in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) on May 13, 2006. He formed a tag team with Shawn Spears in mid-August 2006 and won the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship twice. He also won the OVW Heavyweight Championship and the OVW Television Championship. Teaming with Hardcore Holly (2007–2008) On the July 2, 2007, episode of Raw, Runnels made his television debut, using his family's wrestling last name, Rhodes, in a backstage segment with his father Dusty Rhodes and Randy Orton, where Orton introduced himself to Rhodes and then slapped Dusty as a sign of disrespect. Cody Rhodes made his main roster in-ring debut losing to Randy Orton via pinfall on the July 16, 2007, episode of Raw. Rhodes appeared at The Great American Bash to prevent Orton from further attacking his father. The next night on Raw, Rhodes challenged Orton to a rematch from the previous week, only to lose again. Orton followed this up by kicking Rhodes' father in the head. On September, he began a feud with Hardcore Holly and lost three consecutive matches to him. Later, they woul.... Discover the Cody Alexander popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Cody Alexander books.