The Legacy (professional wrestling)

Cody Rhodes was a World Tag Team Champion throughout the beginning of 2008 alongside Hardcore Holly, who was acting as a mentor to him.[8] Ted DiBiase made his first WWE appearance on the May 26 episode of Raw, in which he claimed that he and a mystery partner would take the World Tag Team Championship from Rhodes and Holly.[9] At the Night of Champions pay-per-view event in June, DiBiase revealed his partner was running late and started the match without him, however Rhodes quickly betrayed Hardcore Holly by attacking him. This turned Rhodes into a villainous character and meant that he and DiBiase won the championship.[10]

Rhodes and DiBiase were two-time World Tag Team Champions

In September, Randy Orton, who at the time was injured, made an appearance on Raw, where he criticized all the champions, mocking Rhodes and DiBiase for allowing their title belts to be stolen by Cryme Tyme (Shad Gaspard and JTG).[11] The two responded by assaulting Cryme Tyme and introducing Manu (son of Afa the Wild Samoan, nephew of Sika the Wild Samoan and cousin of Rosey and Roman Reigns) as their new member at Unforgiven.[11][12] This did little to impress Orton, so later that evening Rhodes, DiBiase, and Manu assaulted World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk as Orton confronted him backstage. This allowed Orton to punt Punk in the head, removing him from his championship match, and gaining Orton's respect.[12]

When Orton was well enough to wrestle, Punk demanded a match with him, which he won via disqualification when DiBiase interfered. As a result, Orton punted DiBiase in the head, putting him out of action; this storyline was put in place in order for DiBiase to take time off to film The Marine 2.[13][14] Orton then invited Rhodes and Manu to form a group with him called The Legacy, and used them to help in his rivalry with Batista leading to a three-on-two handicap match where Batista was put out of action for four months.[15][16]

After Sim Snuka, the son of Jimmy Snuka, also expressed interest in joining the group, Orton made them qualify through a series of tests which Manu failed the first week.[17] On the January 5 episode of Raw, Snuka and Rhodes won a tag team match against Cryme Tyme. Before the match, Orton informed them that they had to win the match in order to be part of the group. After the match, Orton explained that since Snuka did not pick up the pinfall, he was out of the group.[18] The following week, Manu and Snuka informed Rhodes that they were intending to assault Orton and had brought someone to help them do so, giving Rhodes an ultimatum to choose a side. When Rhodes refused to side with them, Manu and Snuka brought out a returning Ted DiBiase to aid them, and tried to assault Orton with Rhodes seemingly ready to attack Orton as well, Instead DiBiase joined The Legacy, attacking Manu and Snuka, and forgiving Orton for attacking him.[1]

Randy Orton after winning the 2009 Royal Rumble match

With The Legacy finally formed, Manu and Snuka still wanted revenge on Orton. Fearing they would try to convince Raw general manager Stephanie McMahon to fire him, Orton went to speak to her himself but their conversation ended in an argument. When Vince McMahon, Stephanie's father, made his return that night Orton maintained he was owed an apology. His brashness angered McMahon who responded by trying to fire Orton, but before he could finish his sentence Orton slapped McMahon and gave him a running punt which left him hospitalized in the storyline.[19] During the 30-man Royal Rumble match at the Royal Rumble the group worked as a team, making them three of the last four contestants in the ring with Triple H as the other. Ultimately, in throwing out Rhodes and DiBiase, Triple H was distracted enough to allow Orton to throw him over the top rope and win the match.[20] The next evening on Raw, The Legacy came to the ring accompanied by lawyers and doctors, with Orton explaining his outburst against McMahon was a result of intermittent explosive disorder (IED) and threatened to sue the company and cancel WrestleMania 25 if he was fired, as winning the Royal Rumble match guaranteed him a championship match at WrestleMania. Instead he was booked for a no holds barred match with Vince's son, Shane, at No Way Out in February, which Orton won.[21][22] The night after No Way Out, they fought again in an unsanctioned match until Orton punted Shane unconscious. Stephanie McMahon came to the ring to oversee her brother being carried away by the paramedics and shouted at Orton until he performed an RKO, his finishing move, to her. Triple H ran to the ring and chased away the group, standing over the body of Stephanie McMahon. The next week, Orton and The Legacy attacked Triple H, when Stephanie came out to stop The Legacy, Orton attacked and made out with her before hitting Triple H with a sledgehammer.[23]

In an interview on SmackDown that week, Triple H revealed his real life marriage to Stephanie (even though they had divorced on-screen in 2002 prior to their actual marriage).[24] Originally, Orton announced he did not have intentions of facing Triple H, who at the time was the WWE Champion, but instead planned to face the World Heavyweight Champion. Triple H, however, goaded Orton into "avenging" his first World Championship loss and ousting from their previous stable, Evolution, and Orton changed his mind, leading to their match being booked for WrestleMania.[25] Orton revealed that he had targeted the McMahon family in order to avenge his unceremonious departure from Evolution in 2004. Due to the intensity of the rivalry, the decision was made that the WWE Championship could change hands at WrestleMania due to a countout or disqualification; despite this, Triple H won the match after hitting Orton with a sledgehammer while the referee was knocked down.[26]

The night after WrestleMania, Orton demanded a rematch, threatening Linda McMahon (Vince's wife) as well as their grandchildren. McMahon did not grant him the rematch but scheduled a six-man tag team match for the pay-per-view Backlash between Triple H and Shane and Vince McMahon and The Legacy, with a preview that evening between Vince and Orton. However, Raw's general manager at that time, Vickie Guerrero, made their six-man tag team match a WWE Championship match. The stipulation was that if Triple H's team won, he retained the championship, while if The Legacy won, Orton would win the title. As the singles match progressed, Shane and Triple H came to Vince's aid, causing both Rhodes and DiBiase to interfere until a returning Batista appeared and cleared the ring; McMahon then announced that Batista was to replace him in the match at Backlash.[27] At Backlash, Orton, Rhodes, and DiBiase won when Orton pinned Triple H after an RKO and a running punt, leaving Triple H hospitalized according to the storyline.[28] In spite of Triple H's absence, Shane McMahon continued his feud with the group, leading to another match between him and Orton on the May 4 episode of Raw. After the original match ended in a no contest due to interference, Rhodes and DiBiase won singles matches to be entered into a handicap match with all of The Legacy facing Shane later that night. This match was used to write him out of the storyline, as The Legacy members used the steel ring steps to shatter his ankle.[29]

Orton won the WWE Championship three times throughout 2009

Batista was left on his own as a result of The Legacy attacking Shane McMahon, but continued to challenge Orton for the WWE Championship. Orton and Batista had a match at Judgment Day, but it ended with Orton intentionally slapping the referee to cause a disqualification, which meant that the championship did not change hands.[30] In their rematch, however, which was held inside a steel cage at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view, Batista won the championship.[31]

The following night on Raw, during Batista's celebratory speech, The Legacy attacked Batista, and injured him in storyline. This storyline was used to cover a real injury Batista had sustained.[32] Orton's rematch that night, intended to be used despite Batista's absence,[33] The following week, a match was held to determine the new WWE Champion between Orton, Triple H, John Cena and Big Show, which Orton won.[34] At The Bash pay-per-view, signs of dissention between DiBiase and Orton appeared when DiBiase argued with Orton backstage. Despite this, DiBiase and Rhodes both helped Orton retain his WWE Championship later that night against Triple H.[35] This tension was later expanded upon when DiBiase's father booked Orton and DiBiase in a match on Raw while he was in charge; Orton won the match but the team showed solidarity later in the same evening by interfering in a WWE Championship contender match between Triple H and Cena, leading to it being ruled a no contest. This made the subsequent match at Night of Champions a triple threat contest.[36] Similar tensions arose briefly in the group late in August when Rhodes' father, Dusty, booked Orton and Rhodes in a match on Raw. It quickly turned out to be a ruse with Dusty's intention to allow The Legacy to attack Cena, who was special guest referee. Despite the four standing tall together, Orton quickly gave an RKO to Dusty which angered Rhodes though he would fall in line.[37]

After Orton retained the championship in July's Night of Champions, the team worked together again to prevent Triple H from receiving a rematch against Orton by slowing his Beat The Clock Challenge match, so that he did not have the quickest time and did not receive a championship match.[38] As a result, Triple H refocused his attention on Rhodes and DiBiase, losing to them in a handicap match, and reforming D-Generation X (DX) with Shawn Michaels.[39] Rhodes and DiBiase faced DX at SummerSlam, but lost the match, although they later defeated DX in a Submissions Count Anywhere match at the Breaking Point pay-per-view, using a combined figure-four leg lock and Million Dollar Dream on Shawn Michaels.[40][41] The following month DX defeated DiBiase and Rhodes at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view by locking DiBiase out of the cell and double-teaming Rhodes, just as the team had done to Michaels earlier in the match.[42] Meanwhile, Orton retained the title against Cena at SummerSlam after the match was restarted a number of times to prevent Orton sneaking a win through disqualification and count out, with an unknown fan, later revealed to be Ted's brother Brett, eventually coming in from the crowd to attack the referee and cause a distraction which helped Orton retain.[40] At Breaking Point, Orton lost the WWE Championship to John Cena in an "I Quit" match[41] only to win it the next month in a Hell in a Cell match at the eponymous event.[42] At Bragging Rights, Orton lost the championship to Cena in a 60-minute Iron Man match with the stipulation that it would be the last championship match between the two. Earlier in the evening Rhodes appeared on Team Raw in a match that pitted Raw against SmackDown in a tag team match. He was seen backstage blaming Kofi Kingston for the loss and in retaliation Kingston ran out to chase away Rhodes and DiBiase when they interfered in the Iron Man match.[43]

Kingston won a return match against Chris Jericho the following night, who had pinned him at Bragging Rights, but after the match Orton attacked him. Kingston retaliated by vandalising a NASCAR that Rhodes and DiBiase bought Orton to cheer him up after his title loss.[44] The rivalry continued when, at Madison Square Garden, Orton attacked Hall of Famer Roddy Piper, but just before he could deliver a punt Kingston came out and attacked Orton, making him bleed and leg dropping him through a table.[45] Kofi headed a team at November's Survivor Series against Orton's team of The Legacy, William Regal and CM Punk which ended with Kingston eliminating Punk and then Orton in quick succession to become the sole survivor while Christian eliminated Rhodes and DiBiase earlier.[46] The next night on Raw Jesse Ventura announced the contender for the WWE Championship would be determined by a series of matches contested for by wrestlers who had never held the title before. Despite this Orton managed to persuade Ventura to allow him into the tournament by defeating Evan Bourne while Rhodes and DiBiase defeated Cryme Tyme to make it through but in the Battle Royal final were eliminated by Mark Henry while Orton was pulled over by Kingston, who held on to the ropes after Orton had thrown him out.[47] Orton defeated Kingston the following week on November 30's Raw after he was attacked from behind by both Rhodes and DiBiase separately,[48] while Kingston took a return win the following week after guest referee Mark Cuban made a fast count[49] leading to a rubber match at the TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs pay-per-view, which Orton won.[50]

Orton attacking Rhodes after being disqualified at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view in January 2010

On the January 11, 2010 episode of Raw, guest host Mike Tyson announced that the winner of a triple threat match later that night between Orton, Kingston, and John Cena would challenge Sheamus for the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble. Orton ultimately won with the help of The Legacy, who attacked Cena and Kingston.[51] At the Royal Rumble, Orton failed to win the championship when he was disqualified when Rhodes tried to interfere. After the match, Orton attacked Rhodes and DiBiase, who attempted to aid Rhodes.[52] On the February 15 episode of Raw, Orton took on Sheamus in a non-title rematch, but was again disqualified after Rhodes and DiBiase interfered.[53] During the WWE Championship Elimination Chamber match at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, in which both Orton and DiBiase participated, Rhodes passed a pipe to DiBiase. DiBiase hit Orton with it, and eliminated him.[54] The next night on Raw, The Legacy participated in a six-man tag team match against Kingston, Yoshi Tatsu, and Evan Bourne, designed to show their unity, but Orton attacked Rhodes and DiBiase[55] and the following week on Raw, Rhodes and DiBiase attacked Orton in retaliation, although Orton was able to fight them off.[56] Orton's split from the group was cemented when he lost a handicap match against both Rhodes and DiBiase on Raw and showed increasing signs of becoming a fan favorite.[57] This led to a Triple Threat Match between all three members at WrestleMania XXVI, where Rhodes and DiBiase proclaimed neither minded not winning so long as Orton was pinned, but in the match Orton pinned DiBiase. DiBiase and Rhodes attacked each other during the match, ending the duo, and Rhodes was punted by Orton and taken out of action for approximately a month.[58] The split was confirmed when Rhodes moved to SmackDown brand during the 2010 WWE Supplemental Draft.[59]

Cody Rhodes reformed his alliance with Ted DiBiase on the May 20 episode of SmackDown, and the duo went on to feud with Sin Cara and Daniel Bryan.[60][61][62] In August, Rhodes attacked DiBiase after DiBiase lost a match to Orton, ending their alliance.[63] On the September 16 episode of SmackDown, DiBiase disguised himself as a member of the audience by wearing a paper bag – part of Rhodes's gimmick – to allow him to attack Rhodes.[64] This led to DiBiase unsuccessfully challenging Rhodes for Rhodes's Intercontinental Championship at Night of Champions.[65] Rhodes and Orton spent much of the latter part of 2011 feuding with each other.[66][67][68] Following his match with Rhodes, DiBiase introduced a new gimmick in 2011; known as the "DiBiase Posse", DiBiase held tailgating parties with fans prior to the start of WWE events.[69][70] In August 2013, DiBiase announced his departure from WWE after opting not to re-sign.[71] On May 21, 2016, Rhodes revealed on Twitter that he had requested his release from WWE,[72] which was officially granted the following day.[73] Rhodes cited frustrations with WWE's creative department and his position within the company as the reasons for requesting his release.[74][75][76][77]

In April 2022, Cody Rhodes made his return to WWE.[78][79][80] On the April 25, 2022 episode of Raw, which coincides with Randy Orton's 20th debut anniversary, Rhodes reunited with Orton for one night only, they teamed up with Ezekiel and Riddle (one half of Orton's tag-team, RK-Bro) to defeat Seth Rollins, Kevin Owens, and The Usos in an eight-man tag team match.[81]