How Cody Rhodes' Neck Tattoo Stopped Vince McMahon From Changing His Look

Publish date: 2024-04-09

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In his time away from WWE, Cody Rhodes had reinvented himself and became one of the biggest names in professional wrestling. He departed the company in 2016, with his eventual return back in 2022. While he was gone, Rhodes did a lot to rebuild and re-establish himself. He competed all around the world, including on the independent scene, ROH, and NJPW. In addition, he also helped to found AEW. When he went back to WWE, Vince McMahon had discussed some new alterations and changes to Rhodes. However, when Rhodes showed McMahon his famous neck tattoo, plans had quickly changed.

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The Role Of Cody Rhodes' Famous Neck Tattoo In Negotiations

Rhodes had worked hard on developing his character during his time outside WWE, including a new nickname, “The American Nightmare”, and a now famous new theme song in “Kingdom.” All of this, including the neck tattoo, added to this new and improved Cody Rhodes. However, when he met with McMahon to discuss a return to WWE, there was the possibility of making changes to Rhodes’ character. One of these included a new logo. However, Rhodes did not want this, as he said in an interview with HOT 97’s Peter Rosenberg (h/t TJR Wrestling). “He goes, you know, ‘We have the best artists and Creative Services Department in the world. We can come up with some new logos for you’ and I remember I just leaned in and kind of went like that and showed him (pulled his collar down so McMahon could see the neck tattoo) and he just kind of did one of those classic laughs like, ‘Ha! Never mind. That’s it, that’s it.’ So he knew we really can’t change it at this point.”

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This was not the only thing that Rhodes did not want to change, as he also wanted to keep the way in which he had been presented in AEW as well. He elaborated and said, “This is what it is and he said something really great to me that day. I stood my ground. I said, ‘I don’t wanna change a thing about myself including my song. I wanna have my elevator, I want all this’ and he said something, he goes, ‘Well that’s what we’re buying. It’s not broke’ and I thought, that feels good, because I hadn’t figured it out when I was here the first time. Everything was broke and that was a nice feeling.”

"The American Nightmare" Cody Rhodes In WWE

This was certainly the right choice to make regarding Rhodes’ presentation in WWE. He had worked hard on it for years throughout his free agency, to AEW, and to WWE. When he made his return at WrestleMania 38 Night One as Seth Rollins’ mystery opponent, he returned to a huge ovation from fans and has been a babyface ever since. He also put on some tremendous matches, notably his trilogy against Rollins. He also won the 2023 men’s Royal Rumble match and challenged Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 39 for the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship. However, he did lose the match. He also went on to feud with Brock Lesnar.

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In professional wrestling, creating a character that truly connects with fans can be difficult. It is all about getting a reaction from the fans. Rhodes is a prime example of building a character that fans have come to have a genuine connection with. He also knew exactly what he had with “The American Nightmare” and stuck to it. It was a very successful choice and has paid off tremendously for Rhodes. With him still on his mission to “finish the story” in WWE, “The American Nightmare” will be a mainstay in WWE for the time to come.

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