Is Cody Rhodes’ Request For A Release From WWE An Angle?

Cody Rhodes has apparently requested to be released from his contract.

The wrestler also known as Stardust hinted that something was imminent on Monday when he cryptically tweeted, “If I pretended I was blind, struck it from my mind, would it still be there…”

These are lyrics from a song called Face to Face. Perhaps tellingly, the preceding line in the song is, “Would it be wrong if I decided I should leave?”

On Friday he followed up, further suggesting that change was afoot when he wrote, “Helluva’ day. Helluva’ day…but tomorrow is gonna’ be even more stressful I think. Wish me luck.”

Then on Saturday, Runnels let the cat out of the bag with a two-part tweet that stated, “The past ten years have been quite the trek, but as of earlier today I have asked for my release from WWE. I’ll speak further on the matter shortly. Thank you to all the pro-wrestling/sports entertainment fans worldwide. Thank you.”

Rhodes in the past has been known to tweet about things that ultimately did not come to pass, such as his promise to ditch the wildly unpopular Stardust gimmick should he fail to emerge victorious at WrestleMania, which he reneged on. Thus, there remains a chance that this is simply an angle, an elaborate way of dropping the Stardust act. That doesn’t appear to be the case, however.

Wrestling Observer editor Dave Meltzer was asked on Twitter whether this is a work related to Stardust and he said it’s not.

@davemeltzerWON is Cody for real leaving WWE or is this a Stardust related work?

— Big Body Storf (@thestorfer) May 22, 2016

Not a work https://t.co/4Cy1nj2A5S

— Dave Meltzer (@davemeltzerWON) May 22, 2016

If Rhodes is granted his release, he will follow the likes of Bad News Barrett and Ryback out of the door, two grapplers who for different reasons decided not to continue on with WWE. With those three departing and following the raft of talent cuts last week, suddenly the independent scene is going to be flush with new names and faces.