PHILADELPHIA — Cody Rhodes doesn’t wear Rolex watches often. He feels a little guilty when he puts one on, he says. As if he didn’t deserve it.
His father, legendary professional wrestler Dusty Rhodes, once promised a young and impressionable Cody that he would pass down his gold Rolex to him when his son won a world championship. Dusty died in 2015 before this happened. Cody was looking for this watch as the family was going through Dusty’s belongings after his death, only to learn that his father had pawned it a decade before and gave the money to Cody and his sister Teil. He did this so the siblings could move to Los Angeles and pursue their acting careers, while the family was struggling with money problems.
Sunday night at WrestleMania XL, Rhodes finally reached a personal high, defeating Roman Reigns in the main event to win the undisputed WWE Universal Championship. It capped off 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 arrived backstage, WWE executives Paul “Triple H” Levesque, Bruce Prichard and Nick Khan presented Rhodes with the same model of Rolex as Dusty.
“The level of investment and responsibility that the company just put in my hands, I hope I can repay it, repay it 100 times over,” Rhodes said.
Cody Rhodes says the gold Rolex he’s wearing was given to him while he was walking backstage by Bruce Prichard, Nick Khan and Triple H.
The same Rolex that Dusty Rhodes pawned for Cody to attend 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 biggest, wildest endings in WWE history. It featured appearances from The Rock, John Cena, The Undertaker, Seth Rollins, Jey Uso, Jimmy Uso and Solo Sikoa. Ultimately, The Undertaker choke slammed The Rockopening the door for Rhodes to finish Reigns, ending the champion’s 1,316 consecutive days as champion.
The theme of this WrestleMania involved entering 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 were also wrestlers and WWE executives hammering home the theme of the new era 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 was also named as a defendant, although the allegations occurred before Endeavor purchased the majority share of WWE last year and merged with Ultimate Fighting Championship into the TKO Group.
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Lévesque is the chief content officer who controls the storylines and, as has been made clear, is now the executive face of the company. He opened Saturday’s show and his wife, Vince’s daughter Stephanie, opened Sunday’s show once again declaring a new era.
“When I say this is our (new) era, I’m talking about everyone in WWE,” Lévesque said. “The people who endured, the people who held on, the people who trusted, the people who over the last year have given their sweat and tears to get to where we are. Because at some point they trusted a process that allowed them to remember how much fun it was.
Sunday ended with Rhodes declared as the new face of the company in the ring. Eight years ago, Rhodes left WWE because he felt he could be the best despite the company’s ideas at the time. He tested the waters with independent promotions and then helped create All Elite Wrestling, but returned to WWE two years ago as a star.
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After Sunday’s main event, he won the championship and was hoisted onto the shoulders of the other wrestlers in the ring.
When you DO THE WORK, you go from UNWANTED TO UNDENIABLE!#CodyRhodes rules to #WrestleMania XL! pic.twitter.com/5ZzUKCdD3y
– WWE (@WWE) April 8, 2024
Rhodes often says that 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 only major wrestling accolade Dusty never won.
Cody finally reached this location on Sunday. He’s had decades to think about what he would say to his father in that moment.
“I would tell him, ‘I hope I lived up to your name and thank you for the name,’” Cody said. “And I would say sorry about the (neck) tattoo.”
(Photo: Joe Camporeale / USA Today)