Cody Rhodes seems to be enjoying his run on the independent circuit, ever since he quit the WWE earlier this year. Rhodes is set to make his Ring of Honor debut tonight, when he fights Jay Lethal in the Final Battle pay-per-view, which will take place at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City.
In an interview with For The Win before his big match, the former WWE superstar opened up about how he has still not recovered from the death of his father, the legendary Dusty Rhodes, in June last year. He claimed that it came as a great shock that he wasn’t prepared for and it just happened to come along.
“I know some fans are probably saying, ‘Dude, get over it,’ but it’s not their dad. I know you can’t make an entire career out of this story. But for me, now, it’s still the grieving process. It’s been 17 months. It was a complete surprise. I wasn’t ready for it — I don’t think anybody is ready for it — but I really wasn’t. It fell into my lap and came along.”
The former 2-time WWE Intercontinental Champion also spoke about the great connect that he feels with his father, every time he enters the ring, which has increased even more since he moved on from the WWE.
Rhodes stated, “I don’t know if it’s true, but it feels true to me, there is just this really strong connection when I’m in the ring. If I was to go where we scattered my dad’s ashes, I would feel him less than I do when I’m in a wrestling ring.”
“I lay my face on the mat and stay there for a while. It’s emotional to me. Now I feel closer to him than I did in WWE,” he went on to add.
During the interview, Cody Rhodes was questioned about why just his first name is being used to promote him at present. He felt that it was strange that the WWE did not allow him to use his last name when they have actually named a tag-team tournament after his father – The Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic.
“It’s an ongoing situation. I like going by my first name sometimes because it’s so silly. They know what my last name is. They know where I came from. It’s silly that in the same period that (WWE) promote a tag team tournament in honour of my dad, you disallow me to use my last name,” said Cody about the issue.
However, he claimed that he was not going to take any drastic measures, but would allow things to get sorted with time and stick to using his first name for now.
“But please, please let me say, I’m not mad at anybody and it will work itself out without any lawsuit. It will take some time. But in the meantime, I’ll use the one thing they can’t take from me and that’s Cody,” Rhodes added.
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