Cody Rhodes Describes Legendary Father’s Final Moments

Cody Rhodes spoke with his father Dusty moments before his passing. 

June 11th 2015, Dusty Rhodes lost his battle with cancer. He died surrounded by his family in the hospital. Cody Rhodes relived those moments with Sports Illustrated. 

"Right before he passed away, my mom called and I made it to the hospital. Unfortunately, as an operating room nurse, my mom knew the severity. Doctors weren’t kicking her out of the room—she knew. She understood the codes and knew the situation. My father was still cognizant and speaking, and he needed to sit up. He was in a ton of pain because of what was going on inside his body internally, and Dustin and I pulled him up together and spoke to him. I gave him a hug goodbye," said Rhodes

Rhodes admits he is his father's son, but professionally he always sought to be unlike his father. 

"He really took to what I was doing in life. I really took a different route than he did. My dad was a journeyman. He had huge goals and he was not a ‘yes’ man. He would rather run his own company than work for yours, but that is not my story.I was a product of WWE, born and bred from my dad’s No. 1 competitor in the 1980s. I was, specifically, theirs. I was the Rhodes who had black hair instead of the bleached blonde. I was the Rhodes with some abs on my tummy. I tried to do everything different, because there was no way I could be Dusty. I would only be a cheap imitation, so I tried to do everything differently—and he was a big fan of that," said Rhodes.

He is acting and wrestling independently, he's scheduled to debut at Ring of Honor's Final Battle. He also recently appeared on the television show Arrow. 

Rhodes spoke at length about his father's impact on his career in the full interview with Sports Illustrated.