WWE Champ Cody Rhodes On What He'd Say To His Father, Dusty, After Title Win

WrestleMania 40 is in the books and fans around the world have a new Undisputed WWE Universal Champion to get behind in Cody Rhodes. After two nights of jumping through every possible hoop The Bloodline threw at him, "The American Nightmare" finished his story by defeating Roman Reigns in the main event of night two, and he had a little bit of help from the likes of Jey Uso, Seth Rollins, and even The Undertaker.

However, one person Cody wishes could have been there is his father, Dusty, who passed away in June 2015. During the WrestleMania 40 night two post-show press conference, Rhodes was asked what he would say to his father if he was alive to see him win WWE's biggest prize on the grandest stage of them all. "If I'm being honest, I think I would want to say to him that I hope I lived up to your name," Rhodes said. "Then, thank you for the name. Then, I would say sorry about the tattoo."

Following the match, the WWE locker room emptied and came to the ring to congratulate Rhodes on his big victory, with the new champ thanking Triple H and Bruce Prichard for helping him get to where he is today. Rhodes might not have had his father in attendance, but he did have his mother, and his brother, Dustin, who was in the stands watching on. While nothing has been confirmed at the time of writing, it is likely that the upcoming tonight's episode of "WWE Raw" will see Rhodes address the WWE Universe for the very first time as the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion.

Please credit WWE when using quotes from this article, and give a H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.