Cody Rhodes has never hidden his love for gaming culture — but apparently, one of his old wrestling tributes got Nintendo’s attention in a very direct way.
While speaking with Kit Wilson on the latest episode of What Do You Wanna Talk About, Rhodes opened up about why he used to wear the Triforce symbol from The Legend of Zelda franchise on his wrestling boots during his original WWE run in the late 2000s and early 2010s. According to Rhodes, the symbol represented much more than just a gaming reference and became something he genuinely connected with personally.
While showing Wilson the Triforce tattoo on his ring finger, Rhodes explained why the symbol meant so much to him and how he connected its themes of power, courage, and wisdom to both wrestling and life itself.
“I live that s***, dog. I thought [about] the principles of the Triforce, which are power, courage, and wisdom. For those who don’t know, Zelda’s the wise one, obviously Link is the one who’s got the courage, and power is Ganon. They make up the three parts of the Triforce. That’s the whole deal.”
The American Nightmare then explained how those ideas fit perfectly into the mentality needed to survive in professional wrestling.
“And I just liked the idea of thinking and leaning towards your own wisdom, or what you’ve learned and applying it, of being ambitious and wanting to be powerful, if you can, in a world that’s competitive, of sports and sports entertainment, and then having the courage to do it. Here you are, you’re taking a dive, you bust your elbow. You’re gonna decide to take the dive the next night, and you bust your elbow even further. I thought it was just applicable.”
But despite the personal connection Rhodes had to the symbol, he eventually found out Nintendo was paying attention as they hit him with a cease and desist and he made it clear Nintendo was quite polite.
“I also got a cease and desist from Nintendo. It was very kind, they weren’t… it was polite, they weren’t coming after anybody, I’m not the first guy to have the Triforce.”
Bottom line — Cody Rhodes’ Zelda-inspired gear wasn’t just random cosplay. The Triforce symbol genuinely represented how he viewed ambition, courage, and wrestling itself. But eventually Nintendo noticed too — and politely told The American Nightmare to retire the look.
Do you think Cody Rhodes should’ve been allowed to keep using the Triforce symbol on his gear, or was Nintendo right to protect its property? Drop your thoughts below and let us know.
