10 Things You Didn't Know About The Rhodes Family

There are a handful of families in the world of professional wrestling that could be considered wrestling royalty. Families like the McMahons, and the Harts likely spring to the minds of many wrestling fans when thinking about famous wrestling families, but it’s likely that the Rhodes was right there amongst those names.

While Dusty Rhodes has been a bonafide legend in the eyes of wrestling fans for decades, two of his sons have only been considered to be on the same level as him relatively recently. Dusty, Dustin, and Cody have all brought unique perspectives to professional wrestling through their incredible personal experiences in the industry.

10 Dusty Has An Impressive Hall Of Fame Accolade

Wrestling fans likely know plenty about the prestigious career of the late Dusty Rhodes, but they may not be aware of an incredible accolade that he claimed for his family. Dusty Rhodes is arguably one of the greatest men to walk into professional wrestling, and that got him in multiple halls of fame.

Most wrestlers strive to enter any single one of the prestigious halls of fame in wrestling, but Dusty Rhodes landed himself in the professional wrestling, WCW, WWE, and even the Wrestling Observer Newsletter hall of fame. The amount of people that have matched that feat hasn’t even hit double-digits.

9 Cody Rhodes Is A State Champion Wrestler

It’s clear to many wrestling fans that the Rhodes family seems to breed greatness, but even before Cody Rhodes made his way into professional wrestling, he was dominant as an amateur. Many fans often point out how underrated Cody is as a wrestler, and it seems he’s always been incredibly skilled.

Both of his state championships came during his days in high school. He managed to win Georgia State Championships in both his junior and senior years. That greatness at such a young age clearly did a lot to set him up for big things in the future.

8 Dustin & Dusty Didn’t Always Have The Greatest Relationship

A lot has been said about the relationship between Dustin and his father over the years, and while the Rhodes family has seemed quite close-knit in recent years, that wasn’t always the case. The issues between Dustin and Dusty apparently even created issues between Dustin and Cody for a while.

Despite the hardships each of the men had been through in their lives, they managed to put their differences aside and do what they could to repair their fractured relationship. With all the tributes both Dustin and Cody have done for their father since his passing, it’s safe to say they were all on good terms.

7 Every Rhodes Wrestler Has Had Over 20 Title Reigns

For how good the Rhodes are and were during their time in wrestling, it’s shocking how few people seem to talk about just how accomplished each member of the family is. Multiple lengthy books could easily be written about all the championship accomplishments of Dusty Rhodes.

Wrestling fans may be surprised to learn that the exact same thing could be said for Cody and Dustin. Cody has won championships in WWE, NJPW, ROH, AEW, and plenty of other promotions. Many of Dustin’s reigns belong to WCW and WWE, where he is a nine-time Harcore Champion.

6 Dusty Got His First Wrestling Job Without Any Training

While any wrestling fan would be hard-pressed to find any self-respecting wrestling promotion that wouldn’t properly vet its performers today, the old days of professional wrestling were very different.

While it’s hard to verify the validity of the claim, it’s said that Dusty managed to make his way into wrestling through some clever lies and the help of friends who were already in or around the business. Even more impressive, one of Dusty’s earliest matches was actually for a world title, even though it was for a smaller promotion (when compared to WWE at least).

5 Dustin Was Fired From WCW For Blading

For a long time, blood in wrestling was actually a relatively common sight. Due to that, it may come as a surprise that Dustin was allegedly once fired for blading during a WCW show. While that may seem strange to wrestling fans, the reason seems to be that blading was against WCW policy at the time the event took place.

The match saw Dustin up against The Blacktop Bully, and at one point, the pair both agreed it was best for each of them to blade. It was that decision to blade in a match that aired on PPV that ultimately ended up getting both men fired.

4 Magnum T.A. Is Cody’s Godfather

The wrestling industry is filled with strange and surprising connections. Fans may actually be amused to find out that the classic wrestler Magnum T.A. is supposedly Cody Rhodes’ godfather. For those that don’t know, Magnum T.A. was an influential NWA wrestler before a tragic accident occurred.

While the fact that T.A. is his godfather hasn’t played much into Cody’s wrestling career in any meaningful way, it still is fascinating to see just how connected the world of wrestling is. The old-school brotherhoods that were formed by classic wrestlers were clearly strong bonds.

3 Dusty Had An Interesting Relationship With NWA

When wrestling fans look back on their favorites, it can be easy to forget that they weren’t always a legend. It seems that during his earlier days in the wrestling industry, some people were concerned with Dusty’s look and physique.

He was given the NWA World Championship, but many have said that there were many people behind the scenes who weren’t happy with it thanks to Dusty not looking like a wrestler. Dusty’s incredible success just goes to show that one of the most important things in wrestling is an undeniable level of charisma.

2 Cody Worked As A Referee For Dusty’s Promotion

While it may be hard to see Cody as anything other than a business tycoon at this point, there was a time when it seemed he simply wanted to get involved in wrestling in any way he could. During his time in high school, Cody supposedly worked at Dusty’s wrestling promotion Turnbuckle Championship Wrestling.

While work likely wasn’t anything incredible, it’s hard to deny the valuable experience Cody likely got during that time. Being right at the front of action for years before doing it himself had to give him some kind of advantage.

1 All Elite Wrestling’s Gorilla Position Is Named For Dusty

Tributes to wrestlers who have unfortunately passed away are quite common in the wrestling industry, and one of the most touching tributes comes courtesy of the immensely popular AEW. Every major wrestling promotion that puts on some kind of video production has what is typically referred to as “The Gorilla Position.”

AEW paid tribute to Dusty Rhodes by supposedly renaming their Gorilla Position to The Dusty Position. It’s not something that will change the world, but it goes to show how much of an impact Dusty continues to have on the wrestling industry even after he’s passed on.