When Dave Meltzer reported that WWE was planning a “huge stipulation” for the SummerSlam rubber match between Cody Rhodes and Brock Lesnar, fans were hyped to see what Paul “Triple H” Levesque had in store for the “Grandson of a Plummer” and the “Beast Incarnate” in the Motor City.

Well, with the final SmackDown before the “biggest party of the summer” officially in the rear view, the answer to that question is… nothing, as the match is officially headed to SummerSlam with nothing to spice it up but being called one of the show's main events.

But why? Well, Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful asked Rhodes that very question in an interview before the show and was met with a very interesting answer that likely won't smooth things over with every fan who was looking for a show but will likely be accepted by most in the end.

“I don't think either of us would have wanted a stipulation. Neither of us want an out,” Cody Rhodes told Fightful. “The stipulation, you can have an out. Neither of us wanted an out. Brock, either you're going to beat me, or I'm going to beat Brock. Brock may not consider [being me] a big deal, but it is, and in my case, if I was able to pull it out, I can gladly say, what else is there if you're not only able to beat Brock Lesnar not once but twice? That's punching a ticket somewhere very lofty and special, and that's what I want to do.”

Asked by SRS if there's a chance Rhodes could end up hitting Lesnar with his own finisher, the F5, – calling back to a strange opinion Rhodes has on stealing opposing performer's moves after multiple in-ring meetings – in the match, the “American Nightmare” admitted that that probably isn't in the card but he still appreciates the “Beast's” body of work and would love to borrow something from him in the future as a result.

“I don't know if you'll ever catch me doing an F5, but I would love to steal something from Brock's arsenal,” Rhodes admitted. “He's so unique and so different. I'm not going to say anything nice about Brock and go on and wax poetic about him, but I will say this, when Brock is not around sports entertainment and wrestling anymore, people will realize, what we had in the Beast. What a presence. What a huge force. We're living in the most profitable era of WWE, Brock Lesnar is a huge part of that. My hats off to him in regards to that. That's the only nice thing you're getting me about Brock.”

Would it have been cool to see Rhodes and Lesnar go to war in a Bunkhouse Brawl or another Dusty Rhodes-created stipulation? Most definitely, but hey, in professional wrestling, all that really matters is who has their arm raised when the match comes to an end, which is what the younger Rhodes clearly intends to do at SummerSlam.

Cody Rhodes reveals how he wrestles with his father's shadow.

Sitting down for an interview with GQ Sports heading into SummerSlam, Cody Rhodes was asked about his father's legacy and how he's been able to navigate having his own career while honoring the man who came before him.

Calling back to a seemingly random episode from his childhood, playing youth baseball for the Capital City Bombers as an eight-year-old, Rhodes explained how his father thought about clutch situation and how he has learned to move past his past while honoring it at the same time.

“My father was really big on youth sports, and I remember I got into a classic scenario once: 8 years old, might have been the year that baseball was on strike, and I was on the Capital City Bombers, just a random little league name. I had a ninth inning, bases loaded-type at bat, and I struck out. I remember thinking, how terrible? I was devastated. You feel like your life is coming to an end. And on that car ride home with him, I remember us talking about even though I felt terrible, that is always the position you want to be in. And for me, I feel like that's who he raised. That's part of what’s been imbued in me. I like to meet those challenges,” Rhodes told GQ.

“It's insurmountable if you think about the legacy that someone like a Dusty Rhodes or a Ric Flair or The Rock leave behind. However, you've still got to go out and commit. I had thought when I was younger that, as I got older people, would forget about Dusty—not in a mean-spirited way, just that time would move on. And what I've seen is that his specter and his penetration and his hands are still in everything. I mean, really, The Great American Bash for NXT is happening [a pay-per-view Dusty Rhodes created], and Survivor Series is going to have a “War Games” match, I bet [a match type Dusty Rhodes invented]. It’s almost funny that he's still doing it at the highest level. It still makes me want to go do it at the highest level. So I responded to his shadow and his presence with wanting to be better, and he liked and encouraged that.”

For better or worse, Rhodes will never be able to escape the legacy of his father, as he's on the professional wrestling Mount Rushmore – as he noted in American Nightmare: Becoming Cody Rhodes – and will continue to influence promotions for the foreseeable future. Then again, when you nickname yourself the “American Nightmare” moniker, it's hard to argue that Rhodes is really running away from his father at all.