PHILADELPHIA — Cody Rhodes doesn’t often wear Rolex watches. He feels a bit guilty when he puts one on, he says. Like he hasn’t earned it.
His father, legendary professional wrestler Dusty Rhodes, once promised a young and impressionable Cody that he’d pass down his gold Rolex when his son won a world championship. Dusty died in 2015 before it could happen. Cody looked for that watch as the family went through Dusty’s things after his death, only to learn his father pawned it a decade prior and gave the money to Cody and his sister Teil. He did it so the siblings could move to Los Angeles and pursue acting, as the family dealt with money problems.
Sunday night at WrestleMania XL, Rhodes finally reached a personal mountaintop, defeating Roman Reigns in the main event to win the undisputed WWE Universal Championship. It capped the biggest moment of Rhodes’ career at one of the most entertaining WrestleManias of all time. Amid the celebration, Rhodes presented the title to his mother, Michelle, in an emotional moment.
When he got backstage, WWE executives Paul “Triple H” Levesque, Bruce Prichard and Nick Khan presented Rhodes with the same model Rolex that Dusty had.
“The level of investment and responsibility that the company just put in my hands, I hope I can pay it back, pay it forward 100 times over,” Rhodes said.
Cody Rhodes says the gold Rolex he is wearing was gifted to him as he walked backstage by Bruce Prichard, Nick Khan & Triple H.
The same Rolex that Dusty Rhodes pawned to put Cody through acting school many years ago pic.twitter.com/4l44jEg6cp
— WrestlePurists (@WrestlePurists) April 8, 2024
The final match — a “Bloodline Rules” match with an “anything goes” stipulation — was one of the greatest and wildest endings in WWE history. It featured run-in appearances from The Rock, John Cena, The Undertaker, Seth Rollins, Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa. In the end, The Undertaker choke slammed The Rock, opening the door for Rhodes to finish off Reigns, ending the champion’s 1,316 consecutive days as champion.
The theme of this WrestleMania involved moving into a new era. Fans saw new champions crowned in Rhodes, Damian Priest (World Heavyweight Championship), Bayley (WWE Women’s Championship), Sami Zayn (Intercontinental Championship) R-Truth and The Miz (Raw Tag Team Championship) and Austin Theory and Grayson Waller (SmackDown Tag Team Championship).
There also were wrestlers and WWE executives who hammered home the new-era theme throughout the week in interviews. This was the first WrestleMania without Vince McMahon, as the former chairman left the company in January following an explosive lawsuit accusing him of sex trafficking and abuse. WWE also was named as a defendant, though the allegations occurred before Endeavor bought the controlling share of WWE last year and merged with Ultimate Fighting Championship into TKO Group.
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Levesque is the chief content officer who controls the storylines and, as was made clear, is now the executive face of the company. He opened Saturday’s show, and his wife, Stephanie, Vince’s daughter, opened Sunday’s show by again declaring a new era.
“When I say it’s our (new) era, I mean everybody in WWE,” Levesque said. “The people that endured, the people that hung in there, the people that trusted, the people that over the last year gave their sweat and tears to get where we are. Because somewhere along the way, they trusted a process that led them to remembering how much fun this is.”
Sunday ended with Rhodes declared as the new in-ring face of the company. Eight years ago, Rhodes quit WWE because he felt he could be the top guy despite the company’s thoughts then. He tested the waters with independent promotions, then helped create All Elite Wrestling, but he returned to WWE two years ago as the star.
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After Sunday’s main event, he was awarded the championship and hoisted onto the shoulders of other wrestlers in the ring.
When you DO THE WORK, you go from UNDESIRABLE TO UNDENIABLE!#CodyRhodes rules at #WrestleMania XL! pic.twitter.com/5ZzUKCdD3y
— WWE (@WWE) April 8, 2024
Rhodes often says his first memory of any kind was sitting in the ring at WrestleMania VI before the show, as his father let him see a ring up close. Cody thought Dusty was a rock star. The WWE Championship was the one major wrestling accolade Dusty never won.
Cody on Sunday finally reached that spot. He’s had decades to think about what he’d say to his father in this moment.
“I would say to him, ‘I hope I lived up to your name, and thank you for that name,’” Cody said. “And I would say sorry about the (neck) tattoo.”
(Photo: Joe Camporeale / USA Today)
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