Cody Rhodes Pays Tribute to Dusty Rhodes in Madison Square Garden After WWE SmackDown: Watch

WWE headed to Madison Square Garden for this week’s SmackDown which is a building that is rich in wrestling history. In that very building Dusty Rhodes, the father of Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes, won his first and only WWE world championship, but it was ripped away from him soon after. Much of Cody’s current WWE run has been based on winning the championship his father never got to hold, which he achieved at this year’s WrestleMania 40. When SmackDown went off the air, Cody returned to the ring to speak to the fans. He told the story of his father and explained that he’d like to take the moment to get on the ropes and hold the championship high above his head in honor of Dusty.

“I mentioned it earlier when we came out here. I had a different plan in mind for my return to The Garden because it is not just my return to The Garden,” Cody said. “For those of you who know this story, this is where it all began. In the late ’70s, my father, ‘The American Dream’ Dusty Rhodes traveled to New York City to wrestle ‘Superstar’ Billy Graham. He was a country boy from Austin, Texas, and for some reason, you guys just loved him. Anyways, in this fabled match, Dusty Rhodes defeated ‘Superstar’ Billy Graham. He grabbed what would become this WWE Championship. He climbed that buckle over there, and he held it up. But moments later, they took it away from him. It’s okay, this story has a happy ending. I was eight years old, I saw the picture of this title. I knew nothing about the ins and outs of pro wrestling and sports entertainment. All I knew was I wanted to win that title for him. I had always planned on saying the silliest thing to him, but I just wanted to tell him that nobody can take it away from you now. So like I said, if you’ll indulge me, I am gonna climb that buckle because I wanna hold up the WWE Championship, but if I could, my cousin [WWE timekeeper] Berkley, you got something in your hands over there? I will trade you” (h/t: Fightful).

Cody is set to team with Randy Orton and Kevin Owens against The Bloodline (Solo Sikoa, Tanga Loa and Tama Tonga) as they continue their reign of terror on the WWE men’s division. At Clash at the Castle, Sikoa took matters into his own hands as the group’s new leader, orchestrating an attack on the champion that left him singled out and overwhelmed. Owens and Orton made the save, scaring off the group for the time being. On last week’s SmackDown, the “Samoan Werewolf” made his grand debut and wreaked havoc on the three men, laying them out around the ring. As a result, Rhodes, Orton, and Owens were looking for revenge this week when they stormed the ring to go after their attackers. Money in the Bank streams live Saturday, July 6, at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT on Peacock in the United States and on WWE Network everywhere else.

Stay tuned to Comicbook for updates on Cody Rhodes and WWE.