Why Cody Rhodes Didn't Wear Knee Pads, Explained

In recent years, Cody Rhodes has dominated the wrestling industry with his exceptional work over the last few years. After becoming extremely dissatisfied with his creative direction and being relegated to nothing but a mere mid-carder for the majority of his first WWE run, Rhodes departed WWE in 2016.

Cody Rhodes had a career comeback and started competing on the independent circuit after leaving WWE. His improved in-ring technique and a new identity as "The American Nightmare" eventually transformed him into a main event star, which allowed him to rejoin the global juggernaut in 2022 when he made his surprising return at WrestleMania 38.

The Prodigal Son has risen to prominence due to his in-ring acumen and overall presentation from the way he looked to the way he functioned inside the squared circle. But it is interesting to note that during one stage of his first run in WWE, Cody Rhodes did not wear wrestling knee pads along with his trunks that were worn by wrestlers traditionally. But Rhodes had a different approach for not donning them at one point. So what could be the reason for this choice made by Cody Rhodes and is there any more history related to knee pads and the former AEW TNT champion? Let's dive deep and explore the subject of Cody Rhodes and wrestling knee pads.

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Cody Rhodes Did Not Wear Knee Pads To Emulate The Spirit Of A Traditional Wrestler Inside Him

Cody Rhodes began his career in WWE in 2007, making his main roster ring debut on the July 16, 2007, episode of Raw, in a losing effort to Randy Orton by pinfall. From the early get-go, fans did notice that Rhodes donned the look of a traditional wrestler, wearing wrestling trunks and long boots, except for knee pads. Knee pads are usually worn to protect the competitor's knees while executing in-ring moves.

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Cody Rhodes' mindset while starting his career in the wrestling world was to match up to the classy and elegant look of legendary stars such as Buddy Rogers. He elaborated on the same during an interview with Brian Soscia in 2012. "I saw this picture of 'Nature Boy' Buddy Rogers and I just thought that he looked so classy and elegant. He had the trunks that were like a quarter of an inch higher than everyone else is wearing today — maybe an inch higher. He had the boots with the socks sticking out a little bit and no knee pads. And I thought there was a gritty, tough element that was in that photo that I kind of wanted to steal. But the trip is that it just bugged people."

The American Nightmare further stated that he had people yelling at him to be extra cautious in the ring by wearing knee pads for his match. After initial resistance, Cody Rhodes finally gave in and began wearing knee pads for his own safety as well around 2012-2013, right before he took up the Stardust gimmick "I had people yelling at me leaving the building, 'Put on knee pads!' It just bugged people. If you get under people's skin, that's a good thing. But that doesn't seem like that money-making way to get under their skin. And, the more moonsaults I kept doing — a la The Great Muta — I didn't want to end up not being able to walk 'cause I was putting a lot of pressure on my knees. So, I switched."

Cody Rhodes Has An Interesting Piece Of History With Knee Pad/Brace, Apart From Not Wearing Them

In 2011, Cody Rhodes had an interesting incident in regards to knee pads and braces, co-incidentally at the same time when he did not wear knee pads. He was embroiled in a feud with the Master of 619, Rey Mysterio. Also, during that period, Rhodes adopted the narcissist gimmick of being the most handsome WWE superstar and referred to himself as 'Dashing Cody Rhodes.'

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Cody Rhodes and Rey Mysterio squared off against each other on the January 21st episode of SmackDown. The action was jam-packed between the two competitors after weeks of a heated rivalry. The closing moments of the match saw Rey Mysterio executing a 619 on Rhodes with his exposed knee brace, breaking his nose. This led to Cody undergoing facial reconstructive surgery and debuting a new gimmick of an undashing superstar wearing a protective mask moving on.

At the end of this persona around 2012, Cody Rhodes finally started to wear knee pads and made it part of his ring gear. Therefore, The American Nightmare finally dropped his aspirations of looking like the traditional and classy wrestling star and became a much more safe worker wearing protective ring gear to move forward in his promising career.