Cody Rhodes had an emotional moment at Madison Square Garden.
Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes has previously talked about how his "story" began when his father, Dusty Rhodes, beat "Superstar" Billy Graham for the WWF Championship at Madison Square Garden in 1977, but the title was immediately taken away from him due to the count-out win. Cody has since said that his dream was to win the world title for his father, who passed away years before he dethroned Roman Reigns at WWE WrestleMania XL.
WWE held SmackDown in Madison Square Garden on June 28. In a SmackDown Exclusive, Cody Rhodes came to the ring after SmackDown went off the air, and he addressed the crowd.
"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. 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," Rhodes said.
Cody then gave his cousin, WWE timekeeper Berkley Ottman, his title in exchange for the classic WWF Title. Cody proceeded to climb the turnbuckle and raise the title while the fans chanted "Dusty."
Click here to catch up on our coverage of the June 28 episode of WWE SmackDown. For a full review, check out the post-show podcast on our YouTube channel.
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