Team Rhodes Scholars (also known as The Rhodes Scholars) was a professional wrestling tag team in the WWE, consisting of Cody Rhodes and Damien Sandow. The team's name is a play on Rhodes' last name and Sandow's intellectual gimmick and a reference to the Rhodes Scholarship. History Formation and various feuds (2012-2013) Rhodes and Sandow first teamed together during the August 27, 2012 episode of Raw when they faced the team of Brodus Clay and Sin Cara. On September 21, 2012, Rhodes and Sandow officially formed a tag team during an edition of SmackDown to face the Tag Team Champions Daniel Bryan and Kane, at the request of anger management therapist Dr. Shelby after his patients' loss to Rhodes and Sandow in singles matches due to the other's interference. The match ended in a disqualification loss for Rhodes and Sandow after Rhodes struck Kane with a chair. During the next Raw, Rhodes and Sandow attacked Kane and Bryan, now called Team Hell No, before labeling themselves as the Rhodes Scholars. Together, the Rhodes Scholars were entered in a Tag Team Championship tournament four days later on SmackDown and defeated The Usos to advance. On the October 8 episode of Raw, the Rhodes Scholars defeated Santino Marella and Zack Ryder to advance to the finals in the tournament. The Rhodes Scholars ultimately defeated Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara on the October 22 episode of Raw to win the tournament and become the number one contenders to the Tag Team Championship. The Rhodes Scholars got their title opportunity against Hell No! at Hell in a Cell, where they won by disqualification, thus Team Hell No retained the title. Rhodes Scholars received another shot at the WWE Tag Team Championship on the November 14 of WWE Main Event, but were defeated by Team Hell No. During the match, Rhodes suffered a concussion and a strained shoulder, resulting in him being removed from his Traditional five-on-five tag team match at Survivor Series, replaced by David Otunga, and removed from television. Sandow still took part in the match opposite Team Hell No as part of Team Dolph Ziggler at the pay-per-view on November 18, but was the first man eliminated from his team by Kane. Rhodes returned from injury on the December 10 episode of Raw, where he and Sandow defeated Primo & Epico, The Prime Time Players (Darren Young and Titus O'Neil), and The Usos in a fatal four-way tag team elimination match to earn the right to face Rey Mysterio and Sin Cara in a number one contender Tables match at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs. Six days later at the pay-per-view, Team Rhodes Scholars defeated Mysterio and Sin Cara to become the number one contenders to the WWE Tag Team Championship. Team Rhodes Scholars received their title shots on the following episode of Main Event, but were again defeated by Team Hell No. On the January 7, 2013, episode of Raw, Team Rhodes Scholars defeated Team Hell No in a non-title match to earn another shot at the WWE Tag Team Championship. The title rematch took place on January 27 at the Royal Rumble, where Team Rhodes Scholars once again failed to capture the tag team titles. Later that night, both men entered the Royal Rumble but were both unsuccessful in winning the match. On the following episode of SmackDown, Rhodes and Sandow mutually decided to dissolve Team Rhodes Scholars and remain "best friends". However, they reunited during the pre-show of Elimination Chamber on February 17, but were defeated by the team of Brodus Clay and Tensai. Rhodes and Sandow then aligned themselves with The Bella Twins as they began feuding with Clay and Tensai, now labelled as "Tons of Funk", and The Funkadactyls (Cameron and Naomi). The two teams were originally booked to face each other in an eight-person mixed tag team match on April 7 at Wrestlemania 29, but their match was cut due to time constraints. The match instead took place the following night on Raw, where Tons of Funk and The Funkadactyls emerged victorious. After Extreme Rules Sandow would have a short feud with Sheamus by challenging him to a series of puzzles to complete which ended with Sheamus attacking Sandow. At the WWE Payback pre show Sheamus would defeat Sandow, however the next night on Raw Sandow and Cody would defeat Sheamus in a handicap match. Their feud would end a week later with Sheamus defeating Sandow in a Dublin Street Fight. Breakup and feud (2013) After this it was announced that both Sandow and Rhodes would compete in the World Heavyweight Championship Money in the Bank ladder match at the Money in the Bank PPV. Sandow would win the match after shoving Rhodes off the ladder, allowing Sandow to climb up unopposed and retrieve the briefcase holding the contract. Rhodes would go on to attack Sandow after his match with Christian the following night on Raw, thus ending Team Rhodes Scholars. On the July 26 episode of SmackDown, Rhodes exact his revenge on Sandow by stealing Sandow's briefcase during his match against Randy Orton and then by tossing the briefcase into the Gulf of Mexico which infuriated Sandow. He failed to retrieve the briefcase because of his inability to swim. It was announced on the August 5 episode of RAW that Rhodes and Sandow would face each other at SummerSlam. Rhodes would go on to defeat Sandow at the pay-per-view, and defeated him again in a rematch the next night on RAW.,<ref name="wwe.com"/> And again on the next episode of Raw in a tag team match, Where Rhodes and Miz defeated Sandow and Fandango. In wrestling *Managers :*The Bella Twins Championships and accomplishments * WWE ** - Damien Sandow ** WWE Intercontinental Championship (2) - Cody Rhodes
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