Cody Rhodes was able to “finish” his story a few months ago when he won the world title that his father, Dusty Rhodes, was never able to win.
During a visit on “The Pivot Podcast,” Rhodes reflected on that WWE WrestleMania 40 night and discussed how, after winning the title, he honored his father.
“At ‘Mania, I had a brief moment where I … looked up and said, ‘Sorry it took me so long,'” Rhodes said. “That’s actually how I felt, but I guess I had planned on saying a gazillion other things. As in, “Hey, this is really awesome.” That your widow is in the ring. Mom. Your family is well-cared after. We’re set up generationally, but we apologize for the delay.”
According to the WWE performer, Dusty had long seen the potential in Cody to become one of the biggest stars in professional wrestling. However, it took Cody until the age of 38 to win a world championship, which he believes took more time than it should have.
Dusty died in 2015 at the age of 69. At the time, both Cody and Dusty were in WWE, though Cody departed the company the following year. Following a successful independent run, Rhodes helped found All Elite Wrestling and, after a few years there, returned to WWE in 2022. He soon made it clear he had his eyes on the world title, pushing the idea that it was the championship Dusty never won.
Rhodes stated that he had become hesitant to invoke his father’s name too much leading up to WrestleMania, as he noticed fans starting to grow tired of the frequent references. He instead waited until the right moment, though Rhodes noticed that few people picked up on the subtle shout-out, including WWE commentary.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “The Pivot Podcast” with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.