Truth. Stardust was a great character, and was incredibly entertaining when given time. His feud with Neville, Amell and short partnerships with Barrett and Ascension all made great TV...but the character just wasn't one anyone could see main eventing, whereas Cody himself has had several times in his career, be it during his Grotesque gimmick, his longer IC title run or his face turn where he showed incredible main event potential...but it just never came to be.
Honestly, if Cody leaves and makes waves in another promotion, it could do him a lot of good. He's a big enough name that they could make an eventual return a huge deal and immediately raise his stock. I think his road outside of WWE will be similar to Drew McIntyre/Galloway, where he proves that he can be a top guy and shows them just how big of a boat they missed.