Cody Rhodes honors Dusty Rhodes in Madison Square Garden- SmackDown Exclusive, June 28, 2024

Undisputed WWE Champion thanks the New York City crowd and talks about what Madison Square Garden means to his family

Transcript

00:00I mentioned it earlier when we came out here, I had a different plan in mind for my return

00:10to the garden, because it is not just my return to the garden.

00:16For those of you who know the story, this is where it all began.

00:28In the late 70s, my father, the American Dream, Dusty Rhodes, traveled to New York City to

00:35wrestle superstar Billy Graham.

00:39He's a country boy from Austin, Texas, and for some reason, you guys just loved him.

00:52And anyways, in this fabled match, Dusty Rhodes defeated superstar Billy Graham.

01:15He grabbed what would become this WWE championship.

01:20He climbed that buckle over there, and he held it up, but moments later, they took it

01:28away from him.

01:31It's okay.

01:35This story has a happy ending.

01:39I was eight years old, I saw the picture of him holding this title, I knew nothing about

01:43the ins and outs of pro wrestling and sports entertainment.

01:47All I knew was I wanted to win that title for him.

01:59And I had always planned on saying the silliest thing to him, but I just wanted to tell him

02:06that nobody can take it away from you now.

02:18So like I said, if you'll indulge me, I am going to climb that buckle because I want

02:23to hold up the WWE championship.

02:31But if I could, my cousin Berkley, you got something in your hands over there, I will

02:43trade you.

03:01Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty,

03:21Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty,

03:31Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty,

03:38Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty,

03:42Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty,

03:44Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty,

03:46Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty, Dusty,

03:48Dusty!