AEW's Cody Rhodes Says His Black Hair Was a Death of Superman Reference

Cody Rhodes' first reign as AEW TNT Champion came to a shocking end on the Aug. 22 episode of AEW Dynamite when he lost to Brodie Lee in mere minutes. Lee then had the rest of The Dark Order brutally assault Rhodes and the rest of the Nightmare Family before spilling the broken pieces of the original TNT belt onto an unconscious Rhodes. "The American Nightmare" then disappeared for a time, not returning until Dynamite's Sept. 23 episode. He arrived sporting a noticeably different look, wearing what looked like a mobster suit with his trademark blond air dyed jet black.

Many fans assumed this was a sign of upcoming heel turn for Rhodes, one that fed into the rumors of him reviving the Four Horsemen faction alongside FTR. But shortly after he won the title back from Lee in a brutal Dog Collar Match he reverted back to his original look.

Rhodes appeared on the first episode of the new Rapid Questions with Lexy series on AEW's YouTube channel, where he explained that the widely-popular Death of Superman comic book storyline inspired the change. He also lamented that fans didn't get the reference.

"Blonds have more fun, and nobody got it when I dyed my hair black, it was a play on Death of Superman," Rhodes said. "He had the mullet, he had a change, he had a different outfit. Nobody got it."

For context, the Death of Superman storyline took place in DC Comics from 1992-93 across four Superman titles, which saw "The Man of Steel" die in a battle with the new villain Doomsday. Following his death Steel, The Man of Tomorrow (Cyborg Superman), Superboy (a clone of Superman) and Last Son of Krypton (Eradicator) all then stepped forward to try and take on the Superman mantle, only for the real Superman to eventually emerge from a regeneration matrix inside the Fortress of Solitude. He arrived wearing a new black suit and sporting a mullet, one he would keep around for a few years following the event.

Do you think Rhodes pulled off the reference? Let us know your thoughts down in the comments!

Rhodes dropped the TNT once again at the Full Gear pay-per-view, this time to Darby Allin. This past week's Dynamite saw Rhodes come face-to-face with his childhood hero Sting, only for "The Icon" to say he hadn't come back to TNT for Rhodes. He then pointed up at Allin (sitting in the stands alone) before casually calling Rhodes "kid."

“kid”

— Cody (@CodyRhodes) December 10, 2020