#8 – Cody Rhodes
Unlike some of these guys, I don't have to spend time telling you about Cody Rhodes. He's been on WWE's main roster for almost seven years now (yes, it's really been that long). In that time he's been a good guy, a bad guy, resurrected an iconic championship belt, held that title for 236 days, won two Slammy Awards, five sets of tag titles, and participated in three WrestleMania matches. But in all that time, only his most dedicated fans would consider him a "main event player" – no, Brodus Clay, we're not talking about you.
At 6'2" and weighing in around 220 pounds, Cody Rhodes isn't huge – he's not even technically in the heavyweight category – but he's big enough. For most of his career, Shawn Michaels weighed in with the same figures; about an inch short, actually. It took Shawn four years to win the Intercontinental Championship. He was nearing 31-years-old when he defeated Bret Hart at WrestleMania to win the WWE Championship. That's three years younger than Cody is today. Hell, Randy Savage was John Cena's age when he won the title, and that was before defending it for an entire year, and he was still in the prime of his career. All this to say that there's never a strict time limit on a person's age, or how long he can be in the industry before management decides to push him all the way.
But even if Cody Rhodes never wins the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, he can still be a major player in the company's future. If/when the United States and Intercontinental titles are unified, the guy who captains the midcard will command a strong presence on the roster. WrestleMania is coming up, the Brothers Rhodes have lost their titles, and the future looks bright for the son of a son of a plumber.
