When Cody Rhodes made his way from RAW to SmackDown to have his first-ever face-to-face encounter with Roman Reigns since returning to WWE at WrestleMania 38, it felt like a big deal. Sure, Rhodes had spoken ad nauseum about the prospects of wrestling “The Tribal Chief” at WrestleMania 39 to pretty much any and every outlet that asked him to get on microphone, and his back-and-forth promo with Paul Heyman may just go down as the best talking segment of the year in WWE thus far, but this was different; Rhodes was finally going to get in the ring with Reigns, and whatever happened happened.

As it turns out, Rhodes and Reigns decided to spend their time largely talking about Dusty Rhodes, the patriarch of the Rhodes wrestling family who passed away from kidney failure in 2015. While the elder Rhodes obviously had a relationship with his son, it's less common knowledge that “The American Dream” actually helped to train Reigns in developmental and was particularly proud of the main event-caliber star he became on the WWE main roster.

Discussing the prospects of bringing Dusty's memory into his current feud with Reigns with WrestleBinge, Cody noted that while it wasn't his idea, he accepts the connection and the value it brings to the feud.

“Can't avoid it. Those nights when I make it clear that I'm not going to talk about Dusty at all is the night that the other guy talks about Dusty,” Rhodes said via Fightful. “Just recently, with Roman, I wasn't really interested in the idea of ‘we're going to converse on my father,' but he has a very unique relationship, and had a very unique relationship with my father, so he's the one that took it up there. I'm always hip and keen to the amount of emotion that happens with me on television. Everything everyone has been watching since I came back at the Royal Rumble is real. In an industry where there is a suspension of disbelief and areas of gray, this is the most real anything has ever been, trying to win a title that my family never got. The last opportunity we got for it was in the late 70s. It's as real as it gets. Coming back from a very real injury, trying to make it to the Royal Rumble, surviving Gunther until I was able to eliminate him, very real. I like that. I prefer that. I have the responsibility, but also to a degree, the burden of the character that I play is myself. That's what makes ‘finish the story' sound even better. It's a real story.”

Is it hard to believe that Rhodes didn't want to talk about his father? Eh, maybe a little bit; Rhodes bringing up his father and family legacy is sort of his thing, with his theme music literally starting with the line “wrestling has more than one royal family.” Still, it's nice to see how the story has come together, as to say there's a lot riding on this match would be a severe understatement.

Cody Rhodes is happy fans consider him a WrestleMania Main Event talent.

Discussing the prospects of being in the main event of WrestleMania for the first time in his career with Sportskeeda, Rhodes noted that the value of the moment hasn't been lost on him.

“The poster for WrestleMania came out the other day,” Rhodes said via Wrestling Inc. “Obviously, I'm a sentimental guy, but [it] really put a level of responsibility on me.”

“It's great to hear someone say ‘he's the right guy to face the guy, but for me personally, I have to go out and execute, I have to go out and deliver, it can't just be a pipe dream, can't just be hope. It has to be hope and execution… None of it matters unless you go out there and execute and give them something to love and cherish.”

Is Rhodes going to be the man who not only unseats Reigns as the face of WWE but also as the holder of the Undisputed WWE Universal Championship? Or does creative have something else in mind, maybe extending the story ever so slightly to have a guaranteed marquee main event at SummerSlam, say a No DQ match or a steel cage match to prevent The Bloodline from getting involved? Only time will tell, but after being stuck in the midcard in AEW, largely by his own doing, it's pretty incredible to see Rhodes positioned as the top star in WWE.