By Ryan Frye
On the night of July 13, 2014, WWE held its annual Money In the Bank pay-per-view inside Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Opening the show that night was the Money In the Bank ladder match for a World Heavyweight Championship match contract. In this match were Dean Ambrose, Fandango, Antonio Cesaro, Jack Swagger, Damien Sandow, and Cody Rhodes.
The months leading into this match, Rhodes and Sandow had formed a tag team known as The Rhodes Scholars. The tandem nearly captured the WWE Tag Team Championships from Team Hell No on two occasions, in fact.
Nonetheless, during the match, Cody Rhodes cleaned out the ring and set up a ladder. He'd climb rung by rung to a chant of "Cody! Cody!" Despite having played a villainous character for nearly his entire career, the fans had appreciated his work and were now getting behind him as he was moments away from seizing the biggest opportunity of his career.
From the outside crawled Damien Sandow who came up from behind Cody and pushed him off the ladder. He would then take Cody's place on the ladder and retrieve the briefcase.
As Sandow celebrated with glee, Cody watched on in heartbreak. He'd been in the WWE for six years, been around the wrestling business his entire life, and just watched a World Heavyweight Championship match slip through his fingers.
Over the next few weeks, the newly born rivalry between these former tag team partners intensified. Cody would toss Sandow's Money In the Bank briefcase into the Gulf of Mexico, and Damien would jump in to try to save his golden opportunity.
Cody would try to return a damaged briefcase to Damien on the following edition of RAW but ultimately just used it to bait Sandow in for an attack. Then, on the following SmackDown, Sandow would fail to cash-in his new and improved briefcase when Cody halted his attempt.
Sandow may have been the Intellectual Savior of the Unwashed Masses, but Cody was outsmarting him at every turn. And this infuriated him.
All of this led to a match at SummerSlam where Cody would emerge victorious. From here, it seemed as if the future was bright for both men. But whatever cliche there is about the best laid plans turned out to be unsettlingly accurate.
On the night of July 13, 2014, WWE held its annual Money In the Bank pay-per-view inside Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Opening the show that night was the Money In the Bank ladder match for a World Heavyweight Championship match contract. In this match were Dean Ambrose, Fandango, Antonio Cesaro, Jack Swagger, Damien Sandow, and Cody Rhodes.
The months leading into this match, Rhodes and Sandow had formed a tag team known as The Rhodes Scholars. The tandem nearly captured the WWE Tag Team Championships from Team Hell No on two occasions, in fact.
Nonetheless, during the match, Cody Rhodes cleaned out the ring and set up a ladder. He'd climb rung by rung to a chant of "Cody! Cody!" Despite having played a villainous character for nearly his entire career, the fans had appreciated his work and were now getting behind him as he was moments away from seizing the biggest opportunity of his career.
From the outside crawled Damien Sandow who came up from behind Cody and pushed him off the ladder. He would then take Cody's place on the ladder and retrieve the briefcase.
As Sandow celebrated with glee, Cody watched on in heartbreak. He'd been in the WWE for six years, been around the wrestling business his entire life, and just watched a World Heavyweight Championship match slip through his fingers.
Over the next few weeks, the newly born rivalry between these former tag team partners intensified. Cody would toss Sandow's Money In the Bank briefcase into the Gulf of Mexico, and Damien would jump in to try to save his golden opportunity.
Cody would try to return a damaged briefcase to Damien on the following edition of RAW but ultimately just used it to bait Sandow in for an attack. Then, on the following SmackDown, Sandow would fail to cash-in his new and improved briefcase when Cody halted his attempt.
Sandow may have been the Intellectual Savior of the Unwashed Masses, but Cody was outsmarting him at every turn. And this infuriated him.
All of this led to a match at SummerSlam where Cody would emerge victorious. From here, it seemed as if the future was bright for both men. But whatever cliche there is about the best laid plans turned out to be unsettlingly accurate.
The Tragic Tale of Damien Sandow
The Money In the Bank briefcase appeared to be a ticket into the main event for Damien Sandow. However, it turned out to be quite the opposite.
Damien Sandow would attack World Heavyweight Champion John Cena during a promo and cash-in his briefcase. Despite Cena having an injured arm, he would add Sandow's name to the short list of men who lost their cash-in. The only other name on that list? Why Cena himself, of course.
Sandow's television time immediately grew sparse. His gimmick was slowly being stripped away from him. And soon, the only way he could get air time was goofy impersonations. From Magneto, to LeBron James, to Sherlock Holmes... Finally, one impersonation would stick, and that was as The Miz's stunt double.
Damien Mizdow would impersonate everything The Miz did, inside the ring and out. He became immensely popular with the crowd, and even won the WWE Tag Team Championships with Miz before Miz grew jealous of his wild popularity. This would culminate in Sandow eliminating Miz in the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal on the WrestleMania 31 preshow.
Following WrestleMania, Miz and Sandow traded wins before The Miz won the blowoff—retaining the rights to his name in the process.
From here, it was a downhill spiral. He would remain popular, but he also remained without anything to do. His only appearances on television were sporadic ones and generally ended in him losing quickly. Thus, on May 6th, Sandow was released from his WWE contract.
Damien Sandow would attack World Heavyweight Champion John Cena during a promo and cash-in his briefcase. Despite Cena having an injured arm, he would add Sandow's name to the short list of men who lost their cash-in. The only other name on that list? Why Cena himself, of course.
Sandow's television time immediately grew sparse. His gimmick was slowly being stripped away from him. And soon, the only way he could get air time was goofy impersonations. From Magneto, to LeBron James, to Sherlock Holmes... Finally, one impersonation would stick, and that was as The Miz's stunt double.
Damien Mizdow would impersonate everything The Miz did, inside the ring and out. He became immensely popular with the crowd, and even won the WWE Tag Team Championships with Miz before Miz grew jealous of his wild popularity. This would culminate in Sandow eliminating Miz in the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal on the WrestleMania 31 preshow.
Following WrestleMania, Miz and Sandow traded wins before The Miz won the blowoff—retaining the rights to his name in the process.
From here, it was a downhill spiral. He would remain popular, but he also remained without anything to do. His only appearances on television were sporadic ones and generally ended in him losing quickly. Thus, on May 6th, Sandow was released from his WWE contract.
The Curious Case of Cody Rhodes
Whatever role Cody Rhodes was asked to play throughout his career, he always played it brilliantly. He had so many phases, so many different characters, and he excelled with each of them. First, he was in Legacy with Randy Orton and Ted DiBiase then he was dashing then he was disfigured before becoming dashing again.
The immediate aftermath of his feud with Damien Sandow treated him quite well.
He would be placed in a match with Randy Orton, with his career at stake, after speaking out against The Authority. And despite his best efforts, he lost the match and was fired on the spot by COO Triple H.
The immediate aftermath of his feud with Damien Sandow treated him quite well.
He would be placed in a match with Randy Orton, with his career at stake, after speaking out against The Authority. And despite his best efforts, he lost the match and was fired on the spot by COO Triple H.
Moments after this match, Cody cut an impassioned promo on the McMahon's treatment of his family throughout the years. Dusty dominated Florida, and they put him in polka-dots. Dustin was known as "The Natural" before they put him in gold paint, and he was never the same.
His family would play an integral role on RAW in the coming weeks. First, Goldust returned to face Randy Orton to get his and Cody's jobs back—but much like his brother—he fell short. Then, Dusty would get knocked out by The Big Show when pleading for his son's jobs back.
They would be given one final shot at Battleground. It was The Brotherhood—Cody Rhodes and Goldust—versus the WWE Tag Team Champions The Shield. If The Brotherhood won, Cody and Goldust got their jobs back. If they lost, Dusty would lose his job at the Performance Center as well.
In one of the most emotional matches in recent memory, The Brotherhood would defeat The Hounds of Justice to regain their livelihood. The locker room would clear out afterwards to welcome one of wrestling's greatest families back.
Not only did they regain their jobs, but with their Battleground victory, they also earned a WWE Tag Team Championship match—a match in which they'd win in spectacular fashion.
The brothers would go on to hold the titles for 104 days before they lost them to the aforementioned team of The Miz and Damien Mizdow.
Eventually, they'd go on a losing streak, causing Cody to go on a hunt to find a sufficient partner for his brother, because he didn't feel like he was getting the job done.
After much searching, the right partner was found—Stardust.
The new Stardust character was able to return the duo to tag team championship glory, albeit after a heel turn. Following this reign, the brothers again grew disgruntled, leading to Stardust turning on Goldust.
The feud started with a bang but, following an awkward finish to their match at Fast Lane, fizzled out with no real conclusion.
From here, the Stardust character—despite being played brilliantly—would go nowhere, perhaps with the exception of a short spat with "The Green Arrow" Stephen Amell.
On Saturday morning, Rhodes revealed on his personal Twitter account that he had asked for his WWE release.
It was as if his words about Goldust came true for him as well; they put him in gold paint, and he was never the same.
His family would play an integral role on RAW in the coming weeks. First, Goldust returned to face Randy Orton to get his and Cody's jobs back—but much like his brother—he fell short. Then, Dusty would get knocked out by The Big Show when pleading for his son's jobs back.
They would be given one final shot at Battleground. It was The Brotherhood—Cody Rhodes and Goldust—versus the WWE Tag Team Champions The Shield. If The Brotherhood won, Cody and Goldust got their jobs back. If they lost, Dusty would lose his job at the Performance Center as well.
In one of the most emotional matches in recent memory, The Brotherhood would defeat The Hounds of Justice to regain their livelihood. The locker room would clear out afterwards to welcome one of wrestling's greatest families back.
Not only did they regain their jobs, but with their Battleground victory, they also earned a WWE Tag Team Championship match—a match in which they'd win in spectacular fashion.
The brothers would go on to hold the titles for 104 days before they lost them to the aforementioned team of The Miz and Damien Mizdow.
Eventually, they'd go on a losing streak, causing Cody to go on a hunt to find a sufficient partner for his brother, because he didn't feel like he was getting the job done.
After much searching, the right partner was found—Stardust.
The new Stardust character was able to return the duo to tag team championship glory, albeit after a heel turn. Following this reign, the brothers again grew disgruntled, leading to Stardust turning on Goldust.
The feud started with a bang but, following an awkward finish to their match at Fast Lane, fizzled out with no real conclusion.
From here, the Stardust character—despite being played brilliantly—would go nowhere, perhaps with the exception of a short spat with "The Green Arrow" Stephen Amell.
On Saturday morning, Rhodes revealed on his personal Twitter account that he had asked for his WWE release.
It was as if his words about Goldust came true for him as well; they put him in gold paint, and he was never the same.