>>12582789Vince is petty, had a rivalry with Dusty, and punished his kids. That is the long and short of it. Cody didn't get it as bad as Dustin but it was still a bad hand.
Also Cody did legitimately learn and grow during his time in the indies. Unlike a lot of ex-WWE talent he didn't head into the indies with an unwarranted ego, and instead came in humbled and willing to learn from every one. Every single interview I have read about post-WWE pre-NJPW cody from old timers mentions how respectful he was towards the vets and how he took their criticism to heart and used it to improve.
By the time he got to NJPW he had already started to develop American Nightmare Cody Rhodes as a character, with Jericho, Yuji Nagata, and Suzuki putting the final polish on it so that Cody could take it mainstream. He had more than a few stumbles in AEW trying to deal with Tony and the Bucks, but WWE put a collar on his worst habits and now it just works.
I know some smark faggot looking for some cheap (you)s is going to try and bait me into an argument for saying this, but Cody is the most complete wrestler in the business today. He may not have the best look, the best work rate, or the most hype, but the man understands what it means to be a wrestler better than any active wrestler today.
