Over the past decade, former Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes has been careful to project a certain image of himself, whether it was on the independent circuit, TNA, New Japan, Ring of Honor, AEW, or now WWE. There’s the blonde hair, an homage to Ric Flair and Rhodes’ father, “The American Dream” Dusty Rhodes. The suits. The controversial neck tattoo. Aside from the latter, it would be very easy to look at Rhodes and label him as a throwback to a bygone era, a man who looks, acts, and, give or take a few Cody Cutters, even wrestles like someone out of the territory days. As a result, it makes it easy to forget that Rhodes’ has plenty of ties into what would be considered nerd culture.
That was far more apparent regarding Rhodes during his first decade with WWE. Though he went through many variations in that period, from being “Dashing” to “Undashing” to Stardust, elements of Rhodes’ presentation always revealed a deep love for comic books and video games. For many, Rhodes’ fandom for “The Legend of Zelda” video game series was most apparent, with him naming one of his signature moves, Din’s Fire, after a technique found in the Zelda game “Ocarina of Time,” while his wrestling boots featured the famous “Zelda” artifact, the Triforce. But Rhodes also incorporated comic book references into his gear, including having tights designed to be similar to “X-Men” character Archangel. Even today, Rhodes’ comic book ties seem to remain, with many comparing his current in-ring look to that of Homelander, the villain from the comic-book series/popular TV show “The Boys,” even though Rhodes himself denies the comp.
Rhodes Once Owned Classic X-Men Arcade Video Game
Rhodes’ love for video games and comic books, especially Marvel Comics and “X-Men,” was most apparent during an interview he gave with Marvel all the way back in 2009, when Rhodes was a member of Randy Orton’s Legacy stable. At the time, Rhodes was participating in the SummerSlam Reading Jam, a campaign started by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) and WWE to help combat child illiteracy. It also allowed Rhodes to introduce fans to his love of comic books, revealing how they had helped him in many ways, including with his promos.
As the interview continued, and began to explore Rhodes’ love for video games as well, the future mega star revealed that one of his most important possessions was a combination of both comics and “X-Men.” And despite it being old school, it was something that Rhodes was continuing to indulge in at the time.
“In my garage I have the six-player ‘X-Men Arcade’ machine from 1992,” Rhodes said. “It needs a little refurbishing, but it’s like the machine I used to pump quarters into as a kid and it still gets play from me because it’s such a classic! It’s a lot easier on free play mode [laughs]. I’m either Nightcrawler or Cyclops, but I feel bad when we have six players because someone has to be Dazzler and no one ever wants to be Dazzler [laughs].”