Reigning WWE Champion and video game lover Cody Rhodes has revealed that his love for Zelda landed him in hot water with Nintendo. Well, lukewarm water, perhaps – he got a letter from Nintendo.
Calling it a “cease and desist” in the classic Nintendo style (but also “very kind”), the cause was the pro wrestler’s habit of making his entrance to the ring wearing boots bearing the Triforce logo. As noted by IGN, the topic came up on Rhodes’ What Do You Wanna Talk About? podcast when discussing video games with fellow wrestler Kit Wilson.
“I also got a cease and desist from Nintendo,” he said after showing Wilson the Triforce tattoo he now has on his finger. “It was very kind, they weren’t coming after anybody. I’m not the first guy to have the Triforce.”
Rhodes’ love of gaming is well-known — we’ll be seeing him soon as Guile in the upcoming Street Fighter movie — and he appeared very happy for the opportunity to talk games and specifically Zelda (“I live for that s***, dog”) on the show while digging into Wilson’s gaming history. Following some brief discussion of GoldenEye 007 and Nightfire, the guest mentioned the host’s Triforce boots and asked why the Zelda series appealed enough to make it a small part of his wrestling persona.
“I thought 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.
“I just like the idea of thinking and leaning towards your own wisdom, or what you’ve learned and applying it, of being ambitious and wanting to seek or 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.”
He goes on to sing the praises of Twilight Princess and Wind Waker. While Rhodes love of gaming is no secret (come on, he used to come out to a crowd of thousands wearing Triforce boots), he’s evidently a man of impeccable taste, too. Thought perhaps a “kind” letter from Nintendo’s legal eagles is the biggest surprise here? Whodathunkit
You can check out the whole discussion in the time-stamped video below.