Cody Rhodes Talks About The Passing Of His Father

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Cody Rhodes recently talked with Justin Labar of the Pittsburgh Tribune. One of the subjects was the passing of his father, Dusty Rhodes. Here is what he had to say:

“What a bad summer for sports entertainment. When you lose The Dream and you lose “Hot Rod” (Roddy Piper). These are not arguably, just genuinely, in anybody’s top five or top ten. The word used now is they are icons, and there’s very few true icons of the industry. I was and I feel like I still am, very close to my dad. I haven’t really let him go. It’s hard when you see a ring, and I think about all the times you saw him in it. It’s great though that you ask, because the Dusty Rhodes tag tournament taking place in NXT is something he would really be proud of because of all the platforms it gives to talent, including independent talent that came in for a shot to win the Dusty Rhodes tag tournament. I will actually be there myself, (as) me — for the first time a while on WWE programming — Cody Rhodes and my brother will be there to present the trophy, which I’m looking forward to seeing. I had some help in preparing it for whomever is victorious in said tag team tournament. It’s a great way to honor him, and I think we continue to honor him. WWE just put it all out there. A lot of families lose a loved one and they don’t get the chance to see video packages and tributes. They have to do all that themselves and put it together. It was done for me, and I’m forever in their debt for that.”

On the WWE tributes:

“I went back and covered a lot of ground to see all the cool things people did. It was very helpful. I made pretty much all the members of my family who hadn’t seen it, I let them see it at their own discretion when they like to. That one in particular, you have to remember, Hunter (Triple H) is my boss and someone I look up to and strive to be as good as he was, but my dad treated him like he was his own son. They had a very unique bond. The way he handled it was with a lot of dignity and immense amount of professionalism.”

On if he should have come back on WWE programming as Cody Rhodes:
“It would have been tacky — would have been tacky, and it wouldn’t have been genuine. Many years ago, I used to watch RAW with my dad, and we watched Nitro, and we watched the pay-per-views. Many years ago, there was a wrestler who passed away, and his name was used pretty regularly after that on programming. People were using it to try draw the adulation of fans. Everyone was saying, “Oh, well such and such who passed away would have loved this.” And (my father) told me, and this is something very few people know, “When I go don’t ever let anybody say that about me. I left my body of work on the table already and it doesn’t need to be expanded.” And I never forgot that. So there was never any question on who was coming back.”
I've been following wrestling for almost 30 years now, and the metal scene for even longer. And let's just say that all that head-banging has left me with some weird ideas that i will share with you from time to time. Aren't you glad?