Why is WWE star Cody Rhodes called ‘The American Nightmare’?

Cody is the youngest son of Dusty Rhodes

Cody Rhodes is one of the top professional wrestlers on the active WWE roster. He is the son of Dusty Rhodes & half-brother of Dusty Rhodes. Cody made his pro-wrestling debut in WWE in 2006, where his dad debuted him.

He has a long history with WWE during his first run, where he worked as an underdog in the mid-card, then he adopted a number of gimmicks including Dashing Rhodes, Undashing Rhodes, Mustached Rhodes and Stardust. Rhodes, after a decade-long history with the company, was released in 2016.

Despite being a mid-carder in WWE, Cody transformed himself into a bigger star in the independent circuits and became one of the undeniable stars in the industry. Cody then adopted the name American Nightmare and took the moniker wherever he stepped his foot in.

His hard work in the Indies and other promotions paid him well that he returned to WWE in 2022 with the same American Nightmare gimmick and achieved great success as the top star of the company. Now we take a look at why Cody Rhodes is called “The American Nightmare”?

Why is Cody Rhodes called The American Nightmare?

In an interview with Bleacher Report on ‘Ask Me Anything’ segment was asked about why he is called ‘The American Nightmare’? To which Cody said that being the son of Dusty it naturally suited him.

However he said that the idea came when he was wrestling for the New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), Tiger Hattori and Gato proposed to him an idea to adopt “The American Nightmare” moniker as it will be easier for the fans to follow because it looks similar to his father’s. He then got the ownership for it, as it would be easy to take wherever he goes. 

“Dusty was rags to riches and I was riches to riches, bratty little kid so the American Nightmare fits me well. I spent my WWE career trying to do everything different from Dusty but then at a certain point you’re allowed a little grace. When I left in 2016 and went to New Japan it was Tiger Hattori and Gato who liked the idea because it was easy for the fans to follow because it was like ‘The American Dream’.”

It seems like the American Nightmare moniker is not just him, but also representing his father’s legacy in the pro-wrestling industry. To prove this Cody fulfilled his father’s dream by becoming the first World Champion in WWE from the Rhodes wrestling family.

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