Cody Rhodes honored his father Dusty Rhodes in a unique way after this week’s episode of SmackDown from Madison Square Garden went off air.
This was an emotional night for The American Nightmare. It was his first appearance as a World Champion, in the same arena where his father briefly held the WWWF Heavyweight Championship before it was taken away from him.
The SmackDown star addressed the crowd after the show went off the air. He mentioned how MSG is where it all began when Dusty Rhodes first traveled to New York from Texas.
The Undisputed WWE Champion went on to cut a short promo about his family’s history before he surprised the fans by bringing out the belt that his father had failed to capture all the decades prior:
Dusty Rhodes challenged Superstar Billy Graham for the WWWF Championship on September 27, 1977. He defeated Graham via a count out and celebrated with the title for a while. It was then announced, however, that the belt could only change hands via pinfall or submission, and the title was returned to Graham.
What Happened On SmackDown
Cody Rhodes was involved in the broadcast of the show. He along with Kevin Owens and Randy Orton attacked The Bloodline led by Solo Sikoa in the opening segment of the night. This came after Jacob Fatu made his debut and took out all three during last week’s SmackDown.
The babyface trio was escorted out of the arena by security and police so they could not interfere in the Bloodline Acknowledgement ceremony in the main event.
During the ceremony, Paul Heyman was brutally attacked by Solo and his cousins after the wiseman refused to acknowledge him as the new Tribal Chief. You can check out what happened with Paul Heyman after this segment here.