DiBiase / Runnels

[robrage]

Hi guys just wondering what your take is on the fortunes of these two ?

When Legacy were coming to an end, it was Teddy who seemed to be the one who would make the grade after he was the one to challenge Orton.

As things have moved on Cody has now just come off a successful match against Rey at Mania, and Teddy is stuck on Superstars ?

Has Teddy become a victim of being put in a mirror image of his dad, while Cody gained from a move to Smackdown and a slow burn on his build up ?

[Sexy Dad]

Rhodes made what looked like the shittest of gimmicks into something quite decent and now he's going through some character redevelopment and he's got some solid work to back himself up. Dibiase has been nothing but bland, not sure whether its the storylines, his mic skills or in ring work or just a combination of all three which has put him in his current spot, I don't know what there is for him.

[FLips]

Cody has one of the most progressive and interesting gimmicks in the WWE in recent memory, but for me at the minute he still hasn't found his place in the ring yet. He's got good moves, he's capable and technical in all the right places, but he still looks out of place. He needs kneepads and some sort of fluidity in the ring. I like him though and he's very promising.

 

Ted Dibiase is a dullard and will hopefully be gone in the next round of firings. No potential, no charisma, managed to single handedly kill one of the most promising Divas in Maryse just by being associated with her, has a shit finish, has no charisma, has shit music, is a bland wrestler, can't get over, has no charisma and is just awful on every level.

[Rave]

I've always been a fan of Cody, I could never understand why everybody would go on about how great Dibiase is when he was/is/will always be as bland as a piece of toast and it was obvious Rhodes was the more likely to be a star. I wouldn't lose any sleep if Dibiase was released. Cody should move on to the Intercontinentl title in the summer. He's a decent midcard hand who puts on good enough matches and has an interesting character.

[textonly]

Am I the only person who likes the no kneepad thing? I admit I didn't always, but that was before Cody had any discernible character and he was ultra-bland. Back then no kneepads just seemed like another thing he was missing. But now he has shown his other qualities - he's not spectacular but solid in the ring, I loved the Dashing stuff and I'm enjoying the disturbed twist - I think it's cool that there's something else about him that stands out. So often people complain about wrestler's attire in WWE all looking the same, and this is something genuinely unique and everyone hates it. I mean, true, he has skinny legs, but it's not like I see his legs and think, "a guy could never climb the ladder with legs like that". I don't see the big deal. I think it's cool that he looks like an old-timey wrestler.

[ShortOrderCook]

Cody Rhodes is tremendous. Those saying his ring work isn't all that i disagree with muchly. I really think he's very, very good in the ring and only looking to get better. Definitely under-rated. He understands the art of telling a story with his matches. His performances this year have been top drawer, he's nailed the development of this character and the promo work that's accompanied it. I'm excited by and hope there's plenty more scope to come with the development of this 'Grotesque Cody Rhodes' . His Wrestlemania match with Rey told the perfect story with the build-up that preceded it. It was really quite good.

 

 

For the really anal there's some possible 'Mania + Raw spoliers in my next comments...

 

 

 

 

 

 

I agree with text about the knee pads. I especially digged his attire for Wrestlemania 26, that looked really classy and old school, i'm gutted he's never donned it since. With the current character i'm not sure the tights and boots look is right though. I was hoping he'd have some funky new attire for 'Mania but...i dunno, the wrestling out of his suit thing sorta worked and i'm not sure why. I think he needs something that covers him a little more as he's wanting to hide away from the cameras seeing him. The jacket and hood is good but, having so much skin on display applies really well to 'Dashing' Cody Rhodes, proud of his waxed legs and body etc and i realise it's his face he's concerned about but i think it compliments the recent character development moving away from all that was 'Dashing'.

[ColinBollocks]

Cody Rhodes needs more 'fire' in the ring. His gimmick is cool but I don't get the vibe that he's a nutter in the ring because he wrestles with zero intensity.

 

Ted DiBiase has nothing going for him just now.

[TheBigBoot]

Both are pretty good workers, although Rhodes is well ahead in every other department right now.

 

I think both of them have potential although in DiBiase's case I do think he would make a better John Cena-type babyface than a heel. Which is why it's a shame they seem intent on having him as a baddie just because his dad was such a good and well known heel for them.

 

In terms of character development post-Legacy then Rhodes has soared ahead first with the 'Dashing' gimmick and now with the disfigured one, whilst DiBiase has been pushed a bit, stumbled, gotten a reputation for being boring, gotten depushed, looked like he was about to recover/become interesting and then stumbled again.

 

Am I the only person who likes the no kneepad thing?

 

Nope. I like it as well - anything that makes someone stand out from the crowd or a little bit different (I think he does that now with his personality anyway but for a while it was one of the few unique things he had going for him). It's been debated a bunch of times on here (whenever a Cody Rhodes thread pops up but also seemingly in a lot of the Raw/SD/PPV threads when someone moans about it) and there's a few on here who like it.

 

I admit I didn't always, but that was before Cody had any discernible character and he was ultra-bland. Back then no kneepads just seemed like another thing he was missing. But now he has shown his other qualities - he's not spectacular but solid in the ring, I loved the Dashing stuff and I'm enjoying the disturbed twist - I think it's cool that there's something else about him that stands out. So often people complain about wrestler's attire in WWE all looking the same, and this is something genuinely unique and everyone hates it. I mean, true, he has skinny legs, but it's not like I see his legs and think, "a guy could never climb the ladder with legs like that". I don't see the big deal. I think it's cool that he looks like an old-timey wrestler.

 

Oh yeah, when he was a deliberately generic babyface when he first started out and everyone was calling him a "Create a Wrestler" it just looked odd which is when I remember all the "skinny legs" comments on here, although even then some people liked it even then (which is how it ended up debated so often). The second he turned heel with the angle at NOC with DiBiase though I think that is when I think a lot of people realised it was part of his "gimmick" (and gave the babyface announcers something to criticisie) and tied in with him being this old school type heel in Priceless (and more recently Legacy). They even started to make a story out of it with him using kneedrops and Cole, JR and Striker saying that made it more painful - referencing another old school heel spot where the heel would purposely expose their knee before dropping it. Considering he didn't have much of a gimmick back then I think he needed all the help he could get (good theme tunes, being associated with the top heel in the company and no kneepads were "it" for him). I don't think he needs it anymore but its an established part of his 'act' like Hogan's moustache or Flair's hair (not to the same extent obviously). People were legit annoyed when Hulk tried being clean shaven (for a film part) and were furious when Naitch got that short haircut under orders from Jim Herd around 1991.

 

Surely if you are a heel the more things you have that annoy people just a little bit more?

[Carbomb]

Am I the only person who likes the no kneepad thing? I admit I didn't always, but that was before Cody had any discernible character and he was ultra-bland. Back then no kneepads just seemed like another thing he was missing. But now he has shown his other qualities - he's not spectacular but solid in the ring, I loved the Dashing stuff and I'm enjoying the disturbed twist - I think it's cool that there's something else about him that stands out. So often people complain about wrestler's attire in WWE all looking the same, and this is something genuinely unique and everyone hates it. I mean, true, he has skinny legs, but it's not like I see his legs and think, "a guy could never climb the ladder with legs like that". I don't see the big deal. I think it's cool that he looks like an old-timey wrestler.

 

I like that he's got an old-school look, but as I've said in other threads, he needs to make a choice: either give up the moonsault, or start wearing kneepads, because carrying on the way he's been will mean he'll have tranny-op testicles for knees later in his career. Mutoh can't walk for more than a hundred metres before needing to sit down, and he actually wore kneepads, so lord knows what'd happen to Cody.

 

As to the actual look, my problem with it isn't the lack of kneepads in itself, it's that the boots he wears emphasises how thin his legs are. Taz had legs thick enough to get away with no kneepads and short boots. If Cody won't wear kneepads, he should wear longer boots, like Ronnie Garvin did.

 

 

 

Anyway, I've been an unashamed mark for Rhodes right from his debut, and I still maintain he's good enough to be World champ one day, and several times at that, not just transitional. He's improved exactly in line with his career trajectory, unlike DiBiase, who's stagnated terribly. I also love the guy for the fact that he finally got the Roll The Dice/Last Rites/Testdrive/WWE Stock Finisher over. And, if someone told me they could give me whichever physique I wanted straight away, I'd want mine to look like Cody's - he looks athletic and muscular without being too big or skinny.

[Southside crew]

I would never have guessed 18 months ago that Rhodes would be a bigger star than Dibiase but the fued with Rey has been fantastic.

 

However I have real issues with the lack of kneepads - just think it looks awful , I'm surprised than WWE let him do it as normally they seem so concerned by the looks of there stars.

[RJ Impact]

I think if they had went the other way show wise last year (ted to sd! & vice versa) it could have gone the other way and ted would be more over.

 

On Raw dibiase hasnt had mush time to get his character goin apart from the R truth feud, I would of kept him with Virgil but still add maryse and done a similar feud to Ted sr vs Virgil 91, have them bully him for months then have him get revenge, it would of been a simple lower card angle to get him over.

 

On Smackdown Cody struggled a wee bit a first but has done well for himself, the Dashing Ones team had alot of potential but was cut short for whatever reason (anyone know)?

 

I dont like the no knee pads thing, Ive never liked it on anyone apart from Taz but he was short, stocky with tree trunk legs so it kinda worked, but cody doing knee drops, moonsaults etc on bare knees his gonna F'em up before long.

[Carbomb]

I think if they had went the other way show wise last year (ted to sd! & vice versa) it could have gone the other way and ted would be more over.

 

Can't say as I agree - Cody's a better worker than Ted. When Ted debuted, Cody had already been on TV some time, and had a feud with Orton, and a feud-leading-to-team with Holly, so he was already quite a bit more polished. Also, they've both been given characters and gimmicks since the break-up of Legacy, and clearly Cody's done a lot more with his, despite having very little in the way of feuds until Rey.

[RJ Impact]

Very true, forgot to add that I meant on Raw Cody might not of had his 'dashing' vingettes and his character might have been used more as a joke (as most Raw thing turn into), on the flip side Ted might have got more TV time on SD and vingettes to flesh out his character but he still might not have gotten over anyway.

 

Cody is a better wrestler either way.

[kamicazze]

I think if they had went the other way show wise last year (ted to sd! & vice versa) it could have gone the other way and ted would be more over.

 

Can't say as I agree - Cody's a better worker than Ted. When Ted debuted, Cody had already been on TV some time, and had a feud with Orton, and a feud-leading-to-team with Holly, so he was already quite a bit more polished. Also, they've both been given characters and gimmicks since the break-up of Legacy, and clearly Cody's done a lot more with his, despite having very little in the way of feuds until Rey.

 

i loved them as a tag team. Thought the whole division could be rebuilt around them. I like neither of them as singles. I believe Ted should be placed back in tag competition when his brother Brett gets called up from developmental. Can be called something like a concept theyve already explored 'Fortunate sons'!

 

Thats a point, until Teds brother got injured he was meant to lead a faction consisting of Brett Dibiase, Joe Henning, Husky Harris, Richie Steamboat, amy henning and some others that i cant recall. I remember reading a planned angle where they would beat on their legendary dads saying that they were no longer going to be in the shadows. I think this would have been pretty awesome

[M-Dudz]

Severly disliked both men until Mania when Codys match with Rey made me fan. I like what he's done with the Phantom of the Opera style gimmick, he has given it real purpose and had one of the MOTN's at Mania.

 

Absolutely no time for DiBiase. Maybe too much too soon though? He got that Marine 2 gig very quickly...

 

I've a feeling they'll keep him around a bit longer yet before they've satisified themselves he's turd. I can't even imagine him being a "bring back" down the line either. As already mentioned, not in the least bit over and I can't remember the last time i've not skipped through his matches.