Cody Rhodes is known for having one controversial tattoo, and if not for Kofi Kingston, he might have gotten another.
These days, Rhodes is one of WWE’s top stars. He returned to the ring at WWE Royal Rumble 2023 and won the Men’s Royal Rumble, so he is set to headline WrestleMania 39. But several years ago, he was an up-and-coming wrestler who was trying to make it big in WWE. He competed in his first WrestleMania match at WrestleMania 26, where he faced Randy Orton and Ted DiBiase Jr. in a match that marked the implosion of their trio, Legacy.
During an appearance on My Mom’s Basement with Robbie Fox, Rhodes was asked whether he ever looked back on the match. He responded by revealing that he almost got a tattoo of the Legacy logo, which a stylized “L”, on his hand before the bout, but fellow WWE star Kofi Kingston talked him out of it.
“Yeah, I almost got a tattoo on my hand of the Legacy logo. Before the match. I almost got this before the match, and I want to say, hope I’m giving credit to the right guy, Kofi Kingston was the one who told me absolutely not to do that,” Rhodes said. “Yeah, Legacy was cool, and yes, I was excited about having this first real WrestleMania, taking the walk. But it’s not that place on the card that you need this tattoo. I thought, okay. I also thought the ‘L’ and stuff, it was a pretty cool logo. But I didn’t get the tattoo. So Kofi was right.”
“The American Nightmare” made it clear that he’ll never forget the match, and he was glad that he could still be a “wrestler” at time when WWE was leaning into the entertainment side of the business.
“I’ll never forget it. I think it was eight-to-ten minutes long. There was an Alabama Slam in it. It’s where the Super Bowl was in Glendale,” Rhodes said. “I remember thinking, what I liked about it most was it was three wrestlers. Pat Patterson told me that. He’s like, ‘You guys just came down there all in shape in trunks and boots. Three wrestlers. He was saying, ‘As entertainment becomes more of a thing, still gotta have your wrestlers.’ I was glad to be that. I was like, I’m glad I can be that in this setting. It’s one of my favorite moments. Plus, to be there, I didn’t know how important it was, but to be there at the time for this emergence of good guy Randy Orton, and all the things he would become, to be part of that was special. That’s a real good Mania feeling that we all share.”
Rhodes also noted that he liked the white gear he was supposed to wear, but he had to use his backup trunks due to a protein powder-related incident.
“I also really like those burnt orange trunks,” Rhodes said. “I told you that I had white trunks that day? I had white trunks with burnt orange logos on them. But I had chocolate protein powder in my bag, and [spilled it] all over it. So I had the backup gear. I wore the backup gear. Always have backup gear. That’s a lesson.”
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