There have been a lot of disappointing WWE feuds over the years which the fans had expected to be top storylines on WWE's television programming. But one of the worst was undoubtedly the one involving the real-life brothers Dustin Rhodes and Cody Rhodes, or Stardust and Goldust, as they were called back then.

Goldust had been in the business for a long time and had been known for his striking and bizarre gimmick that made him a popular WWE superstar. On the other hand, his younger brother Cody Rhodes was the young prospect who gained success as a mid-carder and saw a new direction for his career when he started teaming with Goldust.

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It is a terrible tragedy how their feud in WWE ended, especially considering it was something both men were dying to accomplish and do well. They later made up for this with an all-time epic match in AEW. WWE, regrettably, wasn't on the same page, and the result was what can only be called a total disaster. So let's dive deep and explore the lackluster feud that happened between Cody and Dustin Rhodes, which had all the potential to be one of the top programs in WWE.

The Program Originally Began With Cody Rhodes' Gimmick Change & Teaming Up With Goldust

When Cody and Dustin Rhodes were both working for WWE, their relationship was only seldom brought up. This happened during a Royal Rumble match for instance when they would spar and make references to their father, Dusty Rhodes. The pair's blood relationship was not made explicit by WWE until 2013 when they joined forces in a rivalry with The Authority and successfully established themselves as a tag team.

They enjoyed running together, were regarded for their excellent comradery, and even reigned as the WWE tag team champions as well. All was going well for the Rhodes brothers until Cody was portrayed as the weak link of the team, due to whom Goldust, and he started to lose matches. Over the weeks, the future American Nightmare looked out for new partners for his brother, but it was just not working.

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This gave birth to Cody's Stardust identity, which was equally silly and bizarre as the Goldust figure recreating bizarre magic and captivating the audience once again, gaining success and another reign as tag team champions. Although the two gave their all to their roles, they were gimmicks with very rigid and limited limits. After a while, the pair began losing matches, with tensions growing among the tag team with each passing week.

Dusty Rhodes's Onscreen Presence Was Also Not Enough To Push The Lackluster Program

As the weeks went by, the Stardust persona had begun to overpower the man portraying it onscreen, Cody Rhodes. Things had gone to such an extent that Cody had been ripped off his last pieces of humanity with the bizarre gimmick taking complete control.

Things had gone so far, that Goldust and Stardust's father, the American Dream Dusty Rhodes had to be brought in. The son of a plumber was thrown into the mix as an intermediary to help resolve the conflicts that were brewing between the brothers. On the February 16th, 2015 edition of Monday Night RAW, a backstage segment showed Dusty trying to get his boys on the same page, and it almost looked like his plan had worked to bring back Cody and Dustin as a cohesive unit.

However, to the ultimate shock of everyone, the same night saw Stardust betraying Goldust and nailing him with a Cross Rhodes to signal the end of their partnership. When confronted backstage by his father Dusty Rhodes who was addressed by his real name 'Cody', Stardust claimed that Cody Rhodes was dead.

A WrestleMania Worthy Match Between Goldust & Stardust Happened At Fastlane

The interesting storyline between the Rhodes family was one of the hottest programs going on during that time. All indications pointed to WrestleMania 31 when the two would probably resolve their differences and ultimately bring back the Cody Rhodes persona and moniker.

Instead, they would clash at Fastlane a few months earlier. Disaster hit what appeared to be just the first chapter. Initially, the bout was exciting since Cody was dressed partially as Cody and somewhat as Stardust to represent his internal conflict. Most of the time, the match was battled in a straightforward manner, but sadly, the spectators simply didn't appear to care. A botched three-count at the end of the match made matters worse because it was unclear whether someone failed to kick out in time or if the referee erred. This complete disaster of a match left both participants and spectators perplexed.

RELATED: Dustin Rhodes Says He'll Never Wrestle Against His Brother Cody Again

After this disappointing match, Cody and Dustin Rhodes' storyline was utterly abandoned without a satisfying conclusion. It was no secret that both brothers had wanted to engage in a significant feud for a while, so there was some excitement surrounding the rivalry, so this was a major letdown. While WWE dropped the ball on one of their major programs, it was AEW that finally delivered an epic showdown between the two years later, that became one of the best wrestling matches in the history of the business.