WWE Star Reveals Why Nintendo Once Sent Him a Cease and Desist Letter

Multi-Time WWE Champion Cody Rhodes claims he was once sent a cease-and-desist order by Nintendo regarding a certain insignia he used to wear on a piece of his ring gear. The WWE Superstar holds no sour grapes against Nintendo, a company of which he has been an outspoken fan in the past, but it seems he does have to be careful regarding the branding he wears in the ring.

A second-generation WWE Superstar and the current holder of the Undisputed WWE Championship, Rhodes is easily one of the most recognizable professional wrestlers in the world today, and his love of video games has been well-documented by his past comments through numerous interviews. Cody Rhodes’ list of the best games of all time features titles like Metal Gear Solid, Red Dead Redemption 2, and Halo: Combat Evolved, but at the top of his personal chart is The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

How the Triforce Got Cody Rhodes in Trouble With Nintendo

Rhodes’ love for both wrestling and video games once hit a bit of a clash, however, after Nintendo ordered him to remove the logo depicting The Legend of Zelda franchise’s Triforce from his ring boots. On a recent episode of Rhodes’ own YouTube-based interview series, What Do You Wanna Talk About?, guest and fellow WWE wrestler Elton Prince of the tag team Pretty Deadly said what instantly drew him to be a fan of Rhodes was the image of the Triforce that he once wore on his boots. In response, Rhodes revealed that he stopped wearing the Triforce after Nintendo sent him a cease-and-desist order. “It was very kind,” he noted. “They weren’t coming after anybody.”

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Asked by Prince what caused Rhodes to embrace the Triforce as a part of his in-ring persona, Rhodes responded that he connected with “the principles of the Triforce, which are power, courage, and wisdom.” These three principles reflect the values of the three central characters in the Legend of Zelda franchise, with Zelda representing wisdom, Link embodying courage, and Ganon displaying terrifying power. For Rhodes, those principles don’t just apply to his character, but to the pro wrestling business in general, with wrestlers needing to have a courageous and ambitious drive, draw on the lessons of wisdom from the past, and be able to power through the pain night after night without giving up. “I thought it was just applicable,” he explained.

Image via Nintendo

Prince is not currently an active gamer, but he does have an affinity for Zelda games of the past, specifically citing 2000s-era games like Wind Waker and Twilight Princess. The mention of those two games in particular got Rhodes’ attention, as he believes their connection relates closely to the business of wrestling. Specifically, he pointed out how a lot of fans who had grown up with the series didn’t respond well to The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker‘s cartoonish art style, but they connected much better with the follow-up game’s grittier and more realistic presentation. “Fans like what they like, and when they get vocal enough, whole worlds can change,” he explained. “And I know this firsthand; my whole life changed because of fans being vocal enough.”

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While his love for the Zelda franchise is well-known, Rhodes has become a pretty major video game character himself, appearing in numerous wrestling games over the years and even being included in AEW: Fight Forever after he jumped ship back to WWE. He’s never had a WWE 2K Showcase mode all his own, but he does feature prominently in WWE 2K26’s MyRise mode, which takes a jab at one of the more baffling decisions on the road to WrestleMania 40.

Systems

Released

March 3, 2017

ESRB

E for Everyone: Fantasy Violence, Use of Alcohol, Mild Suggestive Themes

Developer(s)

Nintendo EPD

Publisher(s)

Nintendo