Cody Rhodes received a very meaningful gift from the WWE leadership after his big win against Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 40.

The American Nightmare took part in the media scrum after finally finishing the story. He was asked why he thinks people resonated with his journey so much.

Rhodes mentioned how it was a father-son story that a lot of people can connect to. Beyond that, however, it was also a tale of someone who wasn’t considered a franchise player and proved himself to be main event worthy:

“I think sometimes it feels like it’s a father-son story, which is something that father-daughter, father-son that a lot of people can see and relate to. But then if I’m truly being honest, I think it’s a story of as much as I had the legacy and I had the last name I didn’t…[I] wasn’t born with all the tools.

My brother’s six-four. Do you know how pissed off I was when I stopped growing? [laughs] My dad and my sister just had all this charisma. I think people resonate that, that works for them. You can make it to the main event. You can make it to being THE main event. I always wanted to be a winning franchise if that makes any sense. At my age and where I’m at in my career, I know that’s not been the story. But I’m very proud of, of what the story has become.

You asked, why it resonates? It’s the only answer I really know – because it’s real. I wanted to be this because at first, he wasn’t and I thought he should have been. Then when he passed away, I failed. I didn’t hand it to him. But it became about, I said this earlier, it was in the hype packages and stuff that was playing – the story was beyond me at that point. I still felt the need to finish it. I’ve been saying all week. I think I said it on First Take too that even if I didn’t believe people believed so I had to do it.”

Cody Rhodes Received A Meaningful Gift
Cody Rhodes also revealed a very special gift he received from WWE officials once he returned backstage after winning the Undisputed Championship:

“I know this isn’t what you asked at all, but something that I wanted to share. I came to the back and Bruce Prichard and Triple H and Nick Khan handed me this [watch] which is the same watch that my dad had that he pawned so that I could go to acting school. So the level of investment and responsibility that the company just put in my hands. I hope I can pay it back. Pay it forward, 100 times over.”

Cody had originally written about the watch in his eulogy for Dusty Rhodes back in 2015:

“My beautiful Sister Teil will tell you all about “angel money”. And that beautiful gold Rolex…he told me if I ever won the World Title, that I could have it. Just the other night I inquired about that watch, come to find out he had sold it so that I could drive to Los Angeles to chase a dream.”