Cody Rhodes is emotional following his win at the 2024 WWE Royal Rumble.
Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, Dusty Rhodes was positioned as a regular fixture
at Championship Wrestling From Florida, which often hosted events in the areas of St. Petersburg and Tampa. It was also here that Dusty won several titles, including the NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship. Nearly three decades after Dusty wrapped up his run in CWF, his son, Cody Rhodes, made history in the very same state.
On January 27, Cody Rhodes became only the fourth man in WWE history to win back-to-back WWE Royal Rumble matches. As an added layer, this win also emanated in what WWE Hall of Famer Diamond Dallas Page described as “Dusty Rhodes country.” Given the specific location of this win, Cody became visibly emotional when explaining what this win meant to him.
“Earlier today, I saw Steve Keirn and Gerald Brisco, and I went and said hello. I saw Dory Funk, but I wanted to hide because — it sounds silly — I can’t think about [Dusty] because the fight isn’t really for him. He had his fight. If you could ask him, he was as happy as could be with what he accomplished,” Cody said at the Royal Rumble press conference. “But the fight now is for my wife, my daughter, my mom. So I don’t think about Dusty. Even though I can’t not think about him, I think about them. To see them in the front row. I never tell them anything that’s happening, so they’re always [surprised at the outcome]. The best possible thing ever is to see my mom and her know I’m doing alright.”
“But yeah, it’s very exciting to be here and do it. When I go to sleep tonight and hopefully dream of the man himself, I can tell him, ‘[I] drew a pretty big house in St. Pete, and was on last, hit my finish.’ That was all that ever mattered to him, so it’ll be a great moment.”
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