Cody Rhodes Reveals Words He Said To Late Father Dusty After WWE WrestleMania 40

A few months ago, Cody Rhodes was finally able to "finish" his story when he captured the world title his father, Dusty Rhodes, was never able to win. Looking back on that night at WWE WrestleMania 40 during an appearance on "The Pivot Podcast," Rhodes revealed how he paid tribute to his father following the title victory.

"At 'Mania, I had a brief moment where I ... looked up and said, 'Sorry it took me so long,'" Rhodes stated. "I think I had planned on saying a bazillion other things, but that's really how I felt. Like, 'Hey, this is really cool. Your widow — she's in the ring. My mom. Your family's taken care of. Generationally, we're set up, but sorry it took so long.'"

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.