After Becoming WWE Champion, Cody Rhodes Received an Extremely Meaningful Rolex

Yang-Yi Goh
·2 min read
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Photographs: Getty Images, Bulang & Sons

Just over a week ago, at WrestleMania XL in Philadelphia, Cody Rhodes outlasted Roman Reigns to finally capture the Undisputed WWE Championship. It was a cinematic collision of WWE’s most titanic stars—including seismic cameos from The Rock, The Undertaker, and John Cena—that ended with Rhodes weeping in the center of the ring, clutching the world title that had always eluded his late father, wrestling icon Dusty Rhodes. And yet, for all the fireworks of the main event, the other gold hardware Cody Rhodes received that night might’ve been even more meaningful and consequential than his shiny new belt.

Moments after the show ended, as Cody made his way backstage, WWE chief content officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque presented him with a gift-wrapped box from himself and fellow execs Bruce Prichard and Nick Khan. Inside was a solid gold Rolex Datejust—which immediately got Cody’s tear ducts flowing again. “It’s his watch, you know?” he said, as he gazed down smiling at his new timepiece.

During a press conference shortly afterwards, Cody explained what he meant by that: The Rolex was the exact same make and model that Dusty had owned and—after falling on hard times following his retirement—eventually pawned off to pay for Cody’s acting school tuition.

Now, in addition to fulfilling his dad’s ultimate dream in the ring, Cody is back in possession of his most prized possession outside of it. It’s a familiar story—a sentimental heirloom watch getting passed down to its owner’s child—only heightened and exaggerated to the max, like everything in wrestling. And while it’s likely not the exact same watch Dusty was forced to relinquish all those years ago, tracking it down still took some doing (and serious coin) on the part of Triple H and co.: Rolex hasn’t made an all-gold Datejust since 2018, and the version that Cody received regularly moves for over $20,000 on the secondary market.

As far as gold watches go, Cody’s Datejust is relatively understated and classy, and looks pretty stellar with the suits he generally wears when he’s not locking horns in the ring. More importantly, like the world title he waited his whole career to lift, it just fits him in a way it might not have even a few years ago.

Originally Appeared on GQ

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