WWE Champion Cody Rhodes On Rolex, Wrestling and The Rock

‘The American Nightmare’ Cody Rhodes finally won the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship, defeating Roman Reigns at the Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, putting an end to Reigns’ 1,361-day run as champ.

The event also saw appearances from superstars The Undertaker, John Cena and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, the latter of whom entered the ring as the ‘Final Boss’.

It was the highest-selling single night in wrestling history, racking up 600 million views on social media and 67 million more on WWE’s YouTube channel – the most successful 24-hours in that channel’s history.

More pertinently, Cody Rhodes’ victory “finished the story” as he became the first member of his wrestling family, one that includes his late father, 1970s legend ‘The American Dream’ Dusty Rhodes, to win a top WWE championship.

The shadow of Rhodes Senior looms large – and not just because he weighed in at almost 20 stone.

Despite the big man’s fame, his family was frequently broke. One story Cody Rhodes enjoys telling is how his father presented he and his sister with a stack of money – it put Cody through acting school in LA for a year – after pawning his prized watch.

“He gave both my sister and I $10,000 cash each and I would find out later that he had pawned his Rolex,” he said last year. “And I always thought I’d get that Rolex. He was willing to go great lengths.”

So, April’s victory was emotional.

But it became more so when WWE executive Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesqu presented Rhodes with a prize afterwards. Unwrapping the gift-wrapped box, Rhodes, whose fans call themselves Cody Crybabies in tribute to their hero’s propensity to turn on the theatrical waterworks, burst into tears.

It was his dad’s pawned-off Rolex.

“It’s his watch, you know?” Rhodes spluttered.

Speculation has since been rife whether the solid gold Rolex Datejust 36 was his father’s actual watch – or just the same model, year, and reference number. (The watch has been out of production since 1998. Since Rhodes Junior remembers seeing it as a kid, it is likely a ref. 16238 from the 1990s.)

Ahead of Rhodes touching down in the UK for WWE Clash at the Castle: Scotland on 15 June, airing live from Glasgow for the first time, we spoke with the Undisputed Champ at home in Roswell, Georgia, not far from where he grew up, about his growing watch collection, his secret Rolex hookup at Heathrow Terminal 5, and how he came to smash his prized Omega Seamaster.

We also tried (and mostly failed) to get to the bottom of the provenance of his dad’s Rollie.

Esquire: Would you have considered yourself a watch guy, growing up?

Cody Rhodes: The only watch I had my eye on was my dad’s. That was the watch I thought I would get. He didn’t have a lot of material things. But when you go out onto the ring, there’s a really common wrestler [habit] – you give somebody your watch. My dad would give [fellow wrestler] Barry Windham his watch, and he would do the same. That was an old-school thing. I got into WWE early. I was 20 years old. And 21 when I debuted on the show [WWE Raw]. And that’s where I first saw the correlation with being a world champion and watches. I saw it was ‘a thing’. If you were the world champion, or the WWE Champion, you’d get [a statement watch]. A lot of times somebody would get one for you. I thought that was such a lovely touch.

I’d read that you used to go into your dad’s room, pick his watch up from his jewellery dish, and try it on.

That was pretty much an everyday thing. I’d always looked at it with reverence. But I also looked at it with confusion because there were a lot of links added to that watch – because my dad had a gigantic, perpetually swollen wrist. Just a monster. To the point where, as a kid, you’re looking at it thinking: ‘No way does my wrist get that big’.

Dusty Rhodes, in his pomp

You were pretty emotional when you were reunited with the watch.

Revisiting the event [in my memory] is still emotional. Earlier in the week [of the final] there was a gifting of WrestleMania XL custom watches that I had got made – dials with ‘40’, inspired by custom watches Shawn Michaels and Ric Flair had when they wrestled one another for WrestleMania XXIII [in 2007, Michaels had a pair of diamond Rolexes inscribed to commemorate the match, riffing on Flair’s catchphrase. ‘In order to be the man, you have to beat the man’. Michaels’ watch said: ‘Richard Flair vs. Shawn Michaels ‘To be the man’. Flairs’ watch said ‘Richard Flair vs. Shawn Michaels ‘You gotta beat the man’.] I was just trying to take care of my team. So, I was really taken aback. As soon as it was in my hand, I knew what we were dealing with. And every next piece of the packaging [I unwrapped], we’re getting closer to it, and it was like all your dreams coming true. This thing you wanted, this thing that you thought might happen. This was just, like, dreaming in the open and it correlating with your real life.

Is gifting watches a big thing in wrestling?

Not really! It’s not really anymore. You’ll see WrestleMania gifts sometimes. And typically, even if you hate the person you’re wrestling – I mean even if you hate them – there is this element of respect to it. Because that’s the hardest show to get on. It is the Super Bowl of what we’re doing. And the WrestleMania main event just screams ‘Rolex’ to me. It just does. And we might look back at this, like many of the old timers have done and be, like, ‘Gosh, I wish I’d saved that money’. But I was glad to carry on the tradition. It’s not really as prominent as it used to be. But I think it’ll probably make a comeback. Because when you battle against one another, and you’re competitive with one another, you need to be flanked by great people. And you need to take care of those people.

And why Rolex?

Because it’s the big statement piece. And also because we grew up watching Ric Flair, Buddy Rogers and Dusty Rhodes and during that time hip-hop wasn’t doing it as much [ie: using luxury objects as status symbols] And now they’ve completely overtaken the old wrestling [tradition], which is awesome. But it’s what Ric Flair was doing. He was just going through all the things he was wearing [One of Flair’s adages was that he was ‘the man’, and that part of being the man was to wear a Rolex]. And there was an element of legitimacy when you saw a statement piece on someone’s wrist. You knew they were one of the best in the world. You knew when they were telling you about their global fame, that they weren’t lying. And that suspension of disbelief with wrestling, that perception of reality is always best when [the razzmatazz of the ring and the reality of real life] meet in the middle. And Ric Flair talking about Rolexes established Rolex as the world champions in all of wrestling.

Action man: six-inches of American Nightmare

Is the watch ‘Triple H’ tracked down actually your father’s watch, or another Rolex from the same year? There’s a bit of confusion about this.

My understanding is that the whole idea was the works for over a year. Because I believe they thought that I was going to beat Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 39. [He didn’t]. [Wrestling executives] Bruce Prichard, Nick Khan and ‘Triple H’, this was their idea. But there’s actually a third party, who is well-known to wrestling fans. And that’s [promoter] Conrad Thompsom. He loves a watch. That’s his thing. They tracked it down. It’s the watch.

They found it using the serial number?

Yeah. I think they might have used my mom in this, too, because they had some time. But I’ll tell you this: even if it wasn’t the watch, to me it was. You know what I mean? I’d seen that thing. I’d known that thing. No questions needed to be asked. I also thought: ‘Oh man, I hope there’s no strings attached to this’. Other than ‘Hey, be a good champion for us.’

You mean: ‘I hope I’m not expected to pay this back in instalments…’

Right, right!

It’s an amazing gesture.

I’ve never seen anything like it. Thinking about it now, the amount of love in that was really, really special. When I watch that video, and I’ve seen it a few times, of me getting the watch – it seems like my dad was in the room. He was there. You just couldn’t see him, you know?

The Rock’s unwanted custom ’40’ WrestleMania XL watch

Going back to the watches you gifted to other wrestlers, one of them was for The Rock…

Well, I’ve never confirmed who they went to. But I will say this – and I’m sure you can read between the lines. There were four of them made for WrestleMania main eventers. And again, even if you don’t like the person you’re standing across from, we’ll never be back in that place in time. And I wanted something to remember it. So, I can’t confirm that’s where it went. But that’s probably a pretty good guess.

There’s beef between you and The Rock, right? You’ll have to excuse my lack of knowledge here…

Well. So, it’s highly suspected that what The Rock put back in my hand the day after WrestleMania [there was a further ‘heated exchange’ between the pair on TV the following night] was the watch I had given him – the WrestleMania XL commemorative watch with the logo on and the custom dial, and for him a few extra links, because he’s got a big boy wrist. And that return of said item… I don’t want to use the word ‘trouble’, but it spells something brewing in the future. I don’t know with his schedule, if he’s ever going to come back [to wrestling more permanently]. But I do believe he will. And I believe he’ll come looking for me. And I’ll be right where he left me.

You’ll be ready for The Rock?

Indeed.

Patu’s company: Rhodes with his ’Tiffany blue’ Rolex Datejust

Who does your custom watches for you?

A wonderful student who came through the Nightmare Factory, my wrestling school, in McDonough, Georgia. This kid has several jewellery schools in Buckhead, Atlanta called Luxe. He does stuff for Shaq [Shaquille O’Neal]. There’s a lot of hip-hop. A lot of Braves, Falcons, Hawks… the big sports teams in Atlanta [baseball, American football and basketball, respectively]. He also does Ric Flair… he’s just a really talented guy with custom stuff. And he’s one of our favourite students because wrestlers never really had access like that before. And now when I want a new watch, it’s really easy. When I got my ‘Tiffany blue’ Rolex, he just brought three or four of them in, laid them out and I picked one. We call him the Diamond Sheikh. It would be helpful if I knew his actual name. His wrestling name was Diamond Sheikh.

He’s The Watch Guy.

He is The Watch Guy. And there’s another Watch Guy at London Heathrow Terminal 5.

Really?

Oh, yeah. Because I remember looking at a Rolex there at the store in Terminal 5. Looking at it longingly. This was when I was away from WWE – and knowing ‘I could get it. I could afford it. I could’. But also feeling it wasn’t the time. But now I go in there and browse all the time.

Rolex, Heathrow Terminal 5. Rhodes knows a man

And there’s a guy who works in the Rolex store in Terminal 5 who’ll hook you up?

You know this about people in the jewellery game. There’s not really a ‘hook-up’ to it, you know? It’s more that they can find something for you. For a while I was exploring the Rolex ‘Hulk’ [rare and expensive Submariner with a green dial and matching bezel]. And he could find me a couple of those. Or a ‘Batman’ [GMT-Master II with a black and blue bezel] – some of the classic ones. And he’s been great about [helping me find] whatever I’m looking for. It’s a collection that I’ve been responsible with and enjoy having. Now that has started and I wear them on [long-running WWE TV show] Smackdown very often, I’ll probably continue down this road. I’ll probably keep going with it all.

You’ve got the Rolex bug.

I have the Rolex bug. And I have a [Omega] Seamaster. The Seamaster is really based on my love for 007 [Bond has worn an Omega Seamaster in every film since 1995’s GoldenEye.] So, I had the blue one. And I just told you I was responsible. Well, I may not have the blue one anymore. I have a green-faced one now. And I also have a No Time To Die one, too [a brown titanium Seamaster 007 edition, released in 2019]. Pierce Brosnan was my first Bond. Using his Seamaster in GoldenEye and what it could do [it came equipped with a laser concealed in the lume, used to burn through the floor of a train so Bond could escape]… and then in the GoldenEye Nintendo 64 game which was so famous, you could use the watch in the game as well. That was actually the first one in my collection. Just because of the love I had for his 007. And now all the 007s.

You played the GoldenEye 007 game?

Oh yeah. I’m 38 [years old] now, about to be 39. So, I played it when it came out [1997]. And then we [Rhodes is married with a three-year-old daughter] revisited it around pandemic time, where I put four TVs back-to-back and we did local area network stuff [ie: connected several devices together]. We got four controllers for the N64 on the big screen downstairs. We went back to it, the old rules. You couldn’t be Oddjob [yes, Oddjob is from Goldfinger but he appeared as a villain in the GoldenEye 007 game. You could play as him in multiplayer mode, with a distinct advantage. The character’s short stature meant he was very hard to kill, with bullets flying over his bowler hat. True GoldenEye oo7fans consider this cheating and ‘playing Oddjob’ is banned.] That game was so insanely ahead of its time. If you watch the behind-the-scenes stuff on that game, the multiplayer [option, in which you can compete in several scenarios, via split-screen] was the secondary thing back then. They weren’t putting all this effort into it. And it ended up shaping our lives a little bit [many other games subsequently used spilt-screen]. Wonderful, wonderful game.

And so you traded the blue Seamaster for the green?

Every now and then wearing a watch in the ring goes wrong. I would never go out there and front with a fake watch on. You got to have your real duds on. And I made the mistake. The blue one went down [to be clear, you can’t actually wrestle with a watch. Wearing them for any promotional appearances and in-ring hijinks is another story].

You cracked the glass?

It didn’t quite crack the glass. It shredded the band and pushed in the glass a little bit. It was quite a job.

Rhodes’ restored blue Omega Seamaster 300

No more blue Omega?

I’ve got both. But the green is the one I like rocking. Just because I don’t have anything quite like it. I’ve got the ‘Tiffany blue’ Rollie and then the other two – the WrestleMania XL one [returned by The Rock] is grey. I like to have a little colour in the actual face. And the reason for that is WWE has this amazing team of photographers – and an uncredible social media team. And when you get those pictures on SmackDown or a PLE [Premium Live Event, ie: streaming pay-per-view WWE] and have that little splash of colour, it always stands out.

It’s a nice watch collection. For some poeple, taste goes out of the window when they get success. You haven’t got anything totally over-the-top.

I haven’t had the one that’s over-the-top yet. Because my dad’s one means so much to me, my thinking is: ‘I’m looking but I’m not looking’. I look at all these many wonderful watches that are out there, and I look at them very much as milestone things. ‘This happened because of WrestleMania XL’. That was 20-something years of work. My family has been trying since 1978 to win the WWE title. That deserves that marker, and that watch. So, I think I’ll set some goals for myself. And I probably will go a little over-the-top, depending on how over-the-top those goals are. And keep adding to the collection.

Which one currently gets the most attention?

The ‘Tiffany blue’. There are people who have no interest in what’s on your wrist at all. And then there’s the ‘unique watch aficionados’. And they’re always the ones who notice that. Another notable watch man is John Cena. And he did me the courtesy of letting me wear his Rolex [a Daytona] on the episode of [wrestling show] NXT that featured me, him and The Undertaker. He wanted me to have it on for that. It was a nice touch from the top guy.

WWE Clash at the Castle: Scotland is on 15 June at 1900 BST, via WWE Network or TNT Sports Box Office