| Cody and Dustin Rhodes | |
|---|---|
 Cody (foreground) andDustin Rhodes (as Goldust in the background) in November 2013 | |
| Tag team | |
| Members | Cody Rhodes / Stardust / Cody Goldust /Dustin Rhodes |
| Name(s) | The Brotherhood Cody Rhodes and Goldust Gold and Stardust[1] The Rhodes Brothers Cody and Dustin Rhodes[2] |
| Billed heights | Cody: 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[3] Dustin: 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)[4] |
| Combined billed weight | 452 lb (205 kg)[3][4] |
| Debut | October 6, 2013 |
| Disbanded | 2020 |
| Years active | 2013–2015 2019–2020 |
Cody and Dustin Rhodes (also known asCody Rhodes and Goldust,The Brotherhood,[5]The Rhodes Brothers,[6] andGold and Stardust) were an Americanprofessional wrestlingtag team consisting ofCody Rhodes andDustin Rhodes. They are best known for tenure inWWE andAll Elite Wrestling (AEW). Cody and Dustin arereal life half-brothers and were oncemanaged by their father, wrestling legendDusty Rhodes. They were a sub-group ofThe Elite.
The tag team was formed when Cody was fired[A] from the WWE after losing toRandy Orton in a match prompted by Cody's questioning of the company's chief operating officerTriple H's authority. The following week, Goldust fought Orton in an attempt to have Cody rehired, but was also fired after he lost. Dusty attempted to convinceThe Authority to rehire his sons. Eventually, Triple H and his wifeStephanie McMahon decided that the half-brothers would face the two members ofThe Shield,Roman Reigns andSeth Rollins, atBattleground, but stipulated that if Cody and Goldust lost, they would never work in the WWE again and Dusty would lose his job as a trainer at thePerformance Center. This match marked the debut of Cody and Goldust as a tag team and their victory over Reigns and Rollins led to an immediate return of their jobs. However, after almost eight months, they were disbanded atPayback due to the number of times Cody and Goldust lost. Cody suddenly returned to revive the tag team in June 2014 onRaw under his newgimmick as "Stardust".
They becametwo-timeWWE Tag Team Champions. The first being in October 2013 after they captured the title in ano disqualification match against The Shield (Reigns and Rollins) with help fromBig Show onRaw as Cody Rhodes and Goldust, and on 21 September 2014 when they defeatedThe Usos at theNight of Champions event as Gold and Stardust.
Following the creation of the promotion All Elite Wrestling, where Cody and Dustin serve as in-ring talent (and Cody as a founder and an executive vice president), the Rhodes brothers continued to stay associated and expanded their group to include Cody's real life wifeBrandi, WWE Hall of FamersArn Anderson andDiamond Dallas Page, and close friendQ. T. Marshall, and are collectively known asNightmare Family (taken from Cody's nickname, "The American Nightmare"). On October 30, 2020, Cody announced on Twitter thatBilly andAustin Gunn had joined the group,[9] as well as Lee Johnson.[10] On February 8, 2021, Cody announced on Twitter that Aaron Solow and Nick Comoroto had joined the group.[11][12]
In 1995, Dustin Runnels, the son of WWE Hall of Famer Virgil Runnels (better known as Dusty Rhodes), was re-signed by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), as it was then known.[B] He was then given thecharacter of Goldust, a somewhat spooky and mysterious persona with sexually suggestive mannerisms, later nicknamed "The Bizarre One".Vince McMahon, the promotion's chairman, described it as "androgynous".[4][13] In his period of time with the WWF, Goldust went on to become athree-timeIntercontinental Champion,[14] anine-timeHardcore Champion,[15] and aone-timeWorld Tag Team Champion withBooker T.[4][16] However, his contract expired in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), as it is now known, and he refused to renew it in December 2003.[17] In 2008, Runnels returned to WWE as Goldust atCyber Sunday.[18] After a four-year stint in WWE, he was released in 2012.[19]
His half-brother Cody Rhodes is also fathered by Dusty Rhodes.[20] Cody began wrestling in WWE's developmental territoryOhio Valley Wrestling (OVW) in June 2006.[20] On 2 July 2007, Cody made his television debut in a backstage segment with his father Dusty and Randy Orton, where Orton introduced himself to Cody and disrespectfully slapped Dusty.[21] On 9 July, Rhodes slapped Orton in return and, the following week, Cody faced Orton in his debut WWE match, but lost.[22] In the following years, he would become a two-time Intercontinental Champion[14] and a four-time Tag Team Champion (three World Tag Team Championships and one WWE Tag Team Championship) withHardcore Holly,Ted DiBiase Jr. (as part ofthe Legacy group), andDrew McIntyre.[3][20]
In January 2009, Goldust participated in the annualRoyal Rumble match and stared down Cody who ultimately eliminated him.[23][24] Goldust married[C]Aksana on 2 November 2010 onNXT, with Dusty and Cody in attendance.[26] In 2013, Goldust was a surprise entrant for theRoyal Rumble match on 26 January and was once again eliminated by his half-brother.[27] Although he hinted at a possible feud with Cody, he later confirmed in an interview that his return was a one night only deal.[28]
Renee, it's no secret that I have been the screw-up of the family ... I've got second, third, fourth chances here, I've messed them all up. Cody getting fired is ridiculous, all because ofTriple H ... embarrassing my family's name, the Rhodes' name, that's not cool! So tonight, Cody has a second chance, he gets it 'cause I mean business.
On the September 2, 2013 episode ofRaw, Cody Rhodes was fired[A] from WWE after losing toWWE Champion Randy Orton in a non-title match, which Rhodes was forced into after he questioned the company's chief operating officerTriple H's authoritarian rule.[30] Goldust returned the following week and similarly lost to Orton in a non-title match, thus failing to get his half-brother rehired.[31] Eventually, their father Dusty Rhodes returned toRaw in an attempt to convinceStephanie McMahon to give his sons their jobs back. Instead, McMahon propositioned that Dusty could choose either one of his sons to receive a job, but not both. Dusty refused and Big Showknocked out Dusty as per McMahon's orders.[32] In return, the Rhodes Brothers ambushed Triple H's henchmenthe Shield onRaw.[33][34] The next week, Triple H and Stephanie McMahon (later known asthe Authority)[35] offered the brothers their jobs back if they could defeat The Shield'sSeth Rollins andRoman Reigns (theWWE Tag Team Championship) atBattleground. If they lost, they would never work in WWE again and Dusty would lose his job as a trainer at theWWE Performance Center. All three members of the Rhodes family were then attacked by The Shield, includingUnited States ChampionDean Ambrose.[36] On 6 October at Battleground, the Rhodes Brothers made their debut match as a tag team with Dusty in the corner and defeated Rollins and Reigns to earn their jobs back. Various WWE wrestlers and agents came out to celebrate with the Rhodes family, includingArn Anderson,Dean Malenko, andDave Finlay.[37][38]
On 11 October onSmackDown, the Rhodes Brothers gaveThe Wyatt Family their first-ever main roster loss.[39] The Rhodes Brothers heaped more misery on The Shield as they defeated Reigns and Rollins in a No Disqualification match to win the WWE Tag Team Championship on October 14 onRaw after interference from Big Show. This was Goldust's first championship in WWE in nearly 11 years.[40][41]
On the followingRaw, The Shield faced the Usos in a number one contender's match, which ended in a no contest after Ambrose provoked the Rhodes Brothers into interfering.[42] As a result, the Rhodes Brothers faced both the Shield and the Usos in a triple threat tag team match for the titles atHell in a Cell and successfully retained them.[43] The night after the pay-per-view event, the brothers experienced their first loss as champions to The Real Americans (Antonio Cesaro andJack Swagger) in a non-title match.[44]
In a continuation of their feud against the Authority, on 11 November onRaw, the half-brothers defeated Randy Orton in a handicap match.[45] It was announced the following week that atSurvivor Series, the Rhodes Brothers would team up with the Usos andRey Mysterio against the Shield and the Real Americans in the traditional Survivor Series elimination match, but they lost after both were eliminated by Reigns, who was the sole survivor.[46] On 22 November onSmackDown, the half-brothers defeated the Real Americans to retain their WWE Tag Team Championship.[47][48] The Rhodes Brothers were scheduled to face the team ofRyback andCurtis Axel, the team of Rey Mysterio and Big Show, and The Real Americans atTables, Ladders & Chairs, as they had recently been defeated by each of these teams. Once again, they successfully defended their titles.[49]
On 3 January 2014 onSmackDown, the Rhodes Brothers defeatedLuke Harper andErick Rowan of The Wyatt Family to retain the championships and marked their first win of the year.[50] They once again retained the gold on the specialOld School Raw episode when they again defeated The Real Americans.[51] However, on the 17 January episode ofSmackDown, the half-brothers were defeated in a non-title match byThe New Age Outlaws (Road Dogg andBilly Gunn) after a distraction from theGeneral Manager ofSmackDownVickie Guerrero.[52] As a result, The Outlaws were named the number one contenders for the titles. At theRoyal Rumble pre-show on January 26, The Outlaws defeated the Brotherhood to end their championship reign.[53] Later that day on the Royal Rumble main show, the Rhodes Brothers participated in the Rumble match; Goldust accidentally eliminated Cody, but was then quickly eliminated.[54] The following day onRaw, their rematch for the tag team titles was inconclusive when the Brotherhood were attacked byBrock Lesnar.[55] Thus, the Brotherhood received a rematch but in asteel cage; they ended up losing to the Outlaws.[56]
In the following weeks, the Brotherhood feuded with different tag teams andstables. On 10 February onRaw, they teamed with Rey Mysterio and challenged the Wyatt Family, but The Rhodes Brothers yielded.[57] On Friday, with the Usos on their team, they won against Ryback, Curtis Axel, and the Outlaws.[58] This led to a victorious tag team match between the Brotherhood and RybAxel (withLarry Hennig) at theElimination Chamber Kickoff.[59] AtWrestleMania XXX, the half-brothers participated in the 31-manbattle royal for theAndré the Giant Memorial Trophy, and were both eliminated byAlberto Del Rio.[60]
The Brotherhood then returned for tag team action with consecutive losses to RybAxel and the Usos; after the latter loss on 21 April, dissension was teased between the brothers when Cody shoved Goldust and left by himself.[61][62][63] After that, more tension was built up when Cody began frequently losing singles matches while Goldust frequently won; Goldust notably scored wins overAlberto Del Rio and Curtis Axel, two opponents which Cody lost to.[64][65][66] When Cody managed a win overDamien Sandow in May, it was only because he resorted to cheating.[67] The team disbanded atPayback on 1 June when they lost to RybAxel, with Cody telling Goldust to look for a new partner, after he felt he was the weak link in the team.[68] Cody then attempted to find a new tag team partner for Goldust, such asSin Cara orR-Truth, but the new teams still lost their tag matches.[69][70]
On the 16 June episode ofRaw, Cody announced that he had found the perfect tag partner for Goldust. This turned out to be himself, appearing under the ring name Stardust while wearing a jumpsuit and face paint similar to Goldust. The two quickly defeated RybAxel on that night,[1][71] and also at theMoney in the Bank.[72]
After weeks of primarily appearing in vignettes cryptically expressing their desires to acquire "The Cosmic Key" (their name for the WWE Tag Team Championships) that The Usos now have, they successfully defeated The Usos in a non-title match on the 18 August episode ofRaw.[73] On the 25 August episode ofRaw, they challenged The Usos for the Tag Team Championships and won bycountout, thus not winning the championships. They would accuse the Usos of a purposeful countout to retain the titles, and then attacked them, turningheel in the process.
AtNight of Champions, Goldust and Stardust, now referred to simply as Gold and Stardust, defeated The Usos for their second WWE Tag Team Championship,[74] and successfully retained them against the Usos in a rematch atHell in a Cell.[75] They also successfully retained their titles the following night onRaw; afterMark Henry turned on his partner Big Show to give Stardust the pin.[76] After trading wins throughout the tag division over the next few weeks; Gold and Stardust lost the WWE Tag Team Championship to The Miz and Damien Mizdow in a Fatal 4-Way match inSurvivor Series that also included the Usos andLos Matadores, ending their second title reign at 63 days.[77] After failing in regaining their titles the next night onRaw, the followingSmackDown, the duo cut a more sinister promo than usual on their loss of the Cosmic Key, claiming that "science" had failed them and adding that "darkness would fall on the New Day", possibly referring toa stable that had debuted on the same episode. After being hastily defeated in a number one contender Tag Team Turmoil on the 1 December edition ofRaw byKofi Kingston andBig E; Gold and Stardust returned later on in the match and attacked their manager,Xavier Woods, distracting them enough to cost them the match, thus setting up a feud.[78] A match between the two teams was scheduled for the Kick-Off show ofTLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs on 14 December, where Big E and Kingston defeated Gold and Stardust.[79]
In early 2015, the two again began showing signs of tension between them as Stardust became further entrenched in hisgimmick, leaving Goldust to try and communicate with his brother through his new persona. Stardust would respond to this by walking out on Goldust on the February 5 episode ofSmackDown before their match had concluded.[80] On the February 16 edition ofRaw, Dusty Rhodes returned to speak to his sons for the first time since their debut in an attempt to smooth out the problems they were having.[81] While Cody seemed to be in agreement with his family at first, Stardust hit his old finisherCross-Rhodes on Goldust after he took the loss for their team in a match againstThe New Day, dissolving their partnership entirely.[82] When Dusty approached Stardust backstage afterward, Stardust claimed that it was Dusty and Goldust that were responsible for the intense pressure Cody was subjected to from a young age. He then stated that Cody, and now his own family, weredead to him. A match between Goldust and Stardust was set forFastlane, with Goldust promising to vanquish Stardust, reclaim his brother, and rekindle their partnership.[83] Due to their father asking Goldust not to cause any real harm to Cody, Goldust won their first encounter via roll-up.[83] Backstage, Stardust viciously assaulted Goldust and again proclaimed that his mental decline was his family's fault.
On November 22 atSurvivor Series, Goldust returned to team up withThe Dudley Boyz,Neville, andTitus O'Neil to face his half-brother Stardust,The Ascension,The Miz, andBo Dallas in a ten-man tag team match, where Goldust's team emerged victorious. The following night onRaw, Goldust teamed up withThe Prime Time Players to take on his brother Stardust and The Ascension in another match, which Goldust's team won also after O'Neil hit Konnor with his moveClash of the Titus. Cody Rhodes was released by WWE in 2016, bringing an end to their storied rivalry and chances of a reunion in that company.
After facing each other in a grueling match atAEW Double or Nothing, Cody asked his brother, now going by his original ring name Dustin Rhodes, to team up with him atFight for the Fallen to go up againstThe Young Bucks.[84] On the January 8, 2020 episode ofAEW Dynamite, Rhodes Brothers teamed up to take onLucha Brothers.[85]
Throughout 2020, The Nightmare Family would become a stable who mostly supports Cody Rhodes in big matches while also teaming amongst themselves, the group consists firmly by Cody Rhodes, his wife Brandi Rhodes, his brother Dustin Rhodes, his manager/coach Arn Anderson, Q. T. Marshall, Lee Johnson and The Gunn Club. Diamond Dallas Page is also a part-time member.
Stardust with a front-flip bulldog out of the corner and it was good for the pin.
The hot angle lead to what can be argued as the comeback of 2013, with Goldust teaming with his younger brother – The Brotherhood – for the very first time.
Cody then smashed Rollins with Cross Rhodes as the crowd exploded.
Goldy hits Swagger with the Final Cut, a swinging vertical suplex.
Goldust gave Swagger The Final Cut for the win.
His message is short, but definitely not sweet as he says "Brother to brother, you need a better tag team partner than me." Cody walks off as the crowd chants "No!" to the request.
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