As the WWE continues on with WrestleMania season and we make our predictions for the Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia, Cody Rhodes is talking about dying. Without context, that sounds bad, but during a podcast about death and funerals, he laid out his dream for his eventual burial that would be something every pro wrestling fan wants to see.
Rhodes was a guest on Grave Conversations, and while he tried his best to talk about his upcoming role in Street Fighter and other things, he and co-star David Dastmalchian had to conduct their entire interview inside coffins. Death was sure to come up eventually, and as a big comic book guy, the professional wrestler shared his dream of having a funeral just like a famous story he read in DC:
Identity Crisis has one of the greatest funeral scenes of all time because all of them showed up in gimmick, full gear. When my time comes, I want the wrestling world in full gimmick. Bury me in the American Nightmare Sandra Grey robe. Bury me as I was. I spent so much time giving back to pro wrestling and taking from pro wrestling and loving that I got to play a superhero. I’d like to go out a superhero.
That sounds like a fantastic idea, especially when envisioning who might be at Cody Rhodes' funeral one day. Assuming it's a day far in the future, there'd be a few contemporary wrestlers undoubtedly showing up to pay respects, as well as a number of those from the modern day, all in wrestling gear. It would be a spectacle, for sure, but I think that's the point for Rhodes.
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They say funerals are not for the dead, but the grieving. I think Cody Rhodes' vision is for both. He's a longtime DC Comics fan, having appeared in The CW's Arrow series and even having a wrestling feud with star Stephen Amell.
As much as I'm sure he's thinking of creating a moment for wrestling fans, he's also geeking out at the idea of having the closest thing someone could have to a superhero funeral in the real world.
The idea of Cody Rhodes' death is such an odd one in the first place, because who knows what pro wrestling will look like at that point. Will WWE still be the biggest name in the industry, or will AEW have turned the tables by then? I guess in either case, Rhodes was a big part of both histories, so it wouldn't impact his legacy too much either way. I just hope I live long enough to see it happen one day, because that would be super cool to witness.
For now, I'm planning to enjoy Cody Rhodes while he's alive and see if he can win the Royal Rumble once again. Tune in to ESPN's premium app on Saturday, January 31st at 1 p.m. ET to see it all go down, and see who punches their ticket to WrestleMania.
