Cody Rhodes discusses his iconic neck tattoo

On his personal Twitter account, WWE superstar Cody Rhodes recently held a Q&A, where the American Nightmare talked about his iconic neck tattoo, advice he would give to his younger self, his opinion of the popular indie promotion DEFY, and what historic wrestling match he wishes he could watch live.

He got his neck tattoo for the following reasons:

At the time, I just wanted to wear my own brand as loudly and proudly as I could, without copying their style. There were two guys who really inspired me: one had a chest tattoo and the other had the iconic bull tattooed on his arm…at the time, I just wanted to wear my own brand as loudly and proudly as I could.

He would tell his younger self the following advice:

One of the trade offs for this dream job is that not everyone is going to love all the things you do, so having fans and critics is part of the deal.

He wishes he could have attended a historic wrestling match:

Terry Funk probably has something to do with it.

DEFY in Seattle: His thoughts:

Getting them started was a great honor for me.

The Inspiration Behind Cody Rhodes’ Neck Tattoo

Cody Rhodes’ neck tattoo, which he got during his AEW career, is a tattoo that has garnered a lot of attention in professional wrestling history. It tends to split opinions with some fans loving that he proudly displays his “American Nightmare” logo to show how much it means to him, while others — including his wife — simply don’t like it, but he has now revealed more details about it.

Rhodes revealed the inspiration behind his tattoo during a Twitter Q&A. Although Rhodes initially admitted he didn’t know, he then went on to say, “There were two guys who really inspired me, one had a chest tat and the other had the iconic bull on his arm…at the time, I wanted to wear my own brand as loudly and proudly as I could without copying their style.”

While he didn’t officially name-drop anyone specifically, the iconic bull on the arm seems to be a nod to The Rock, whose tattoo became a recognizable trademark for him. Over the years, The Rock has continued to tweak and enhance that, adding even more detail to make it even more significant. One of the most iconic chest tattoos, Brock Lesnar’s sword, could be attributed to several people.

Rhodes’ own tattoo certainly caught people by surprise when he first unveiled it, but since then, it has helped him to establish his own brand, “American Nightmare.” Even though it has at times been used by his rivals as a diss, the tattoo has inspired plenty of fans to get the logo put on their own bodies, and WWE even released temporary neck tattoos to buy, capitalizing on the buzz surrounding it.