Cody Rhodes felt like a “sad clown” when he had to put on the Stardust face paint, and one day came to the conclusion that enough was enough.

For some, both within the wrestling industry and outside of it, it can seem like if you're fired or released from WWE then that's it. That Vince McMahon's company is the be all, end all of the business and if you don't make it there, well what's the point? That may have had a grain of truth to it in the past, but in the present day, it could not be further from the truth.

Just take a look at Cody Rhodes, one of many stars burning brightly in pro wrestling right now despite not being a WWE Superstar. Rhodes is the example who is talked about the most because he had a spot on the WWE roster. When he decided to try and make it on his own, some told him he was making a mistake. Well, those people have been forced to eat their words many times over.

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Rhodes went through a number of different gimmicks while with WWE, the most notable of all being when he portrayed Stardust. Ironically, it was that persona which finally made him decide to go it alone. On E&C's Pod Of Awesomeness, Rhodes said that "it was like being a sad clown" when he had to put on the suit and face paint to become Stardust, and that he wanted to go back to being Cody Rhodes.

"Vince was being receptive to it. Hunter was being receptive to it. The problem was they were taking too long," Rhodes explained, talking about his idea of ditching the Stardust gimmick. Eventually, McMahon and Triple H took so long that The American Nightmare couldn't take it any longer. That's when he decided to leave WWE, on his own terms, and try to find success on the indies.

A wrestler isn't guaranteed success if they leave WWE, but Rhodes should be a shining example of what's possible. There are likely a number of Superstars working for WWE right now who look at what he has achieved and are thinking to themselves "what if?". Rhodes is not done yet either, far from it. With All In only a little more than three months away, the best is yet to come from the man formerly known as Stardust.

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