10 Things We Learned From Cody’s Final AEW Dynamite Q&A

9. The Nightmare Family

Cody Dynamite
Oli Sandler / The Ringside Perspective

The longstanding issues regarding Cody using "Rhodes" in either his name or the marketing of himself as a pro wrestler generally came up yet again following a reveal of it on one of his weightlifting belts.

The surprise of many, 'The American Nightmare' played down received wisdom of supposed legal issues over the surname, noting that; I can use it, I won't use it though. I know that's not everybody's favourite answer.

The reason I don't use it is because I got so used to being 'The American Nightmare, Cody' in Japan that I loved it. I loved trying my damndest to get my single name over. You'll see it sometimes, and if it's there it's there, and if its not its not. By no means are WWE holding my name hostage...if I walked out there lower thirded as Cody Rhodes and announced as Cody Rhodes nobody's gonna sue us. There's a lot of respect between the families that are involved here."

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett