Formation (2008)
Cody Rhodes was a World Tag Team Champion throughout the beginning of 2008 alongside Hardcore Holly, who was acting as a mentor to him. 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. 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 Holly by attacking him. This turned Rhodes into a villainous character and meant that he and DiBiase won the championship.
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). The two responded by assaulting Cryme Tyme and introducing Manu (son of Afa the Wild Samoan) as their new member at Unforgiven. 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.
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. 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.
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. 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. 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 Rhodes and Orton. Instead DiBiase joined The Legacy, attacking Manu and Snuka, and forgiving Orton for attacking him.
Read more about this topic: The Legacy (professional Wrestling), History
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