This past weekend, WWE hosted their 36th annual Survivor Series pay-per-view, with a special surprise. For the first time ever, the company premiered WarGames on their main roster. Though a popular attraction on the NXT brand in previous years, the dual-cage structure officially lent itself to the WWE Superstars of Raw and SmackDown on Saturday night. One of those superstars included former Universal Champion Kevin Owens, who paid a special homage to the original inventor of the WarGames concept.
Owens emerged onto the entrance ramp sporting a shirt and signature red elbow pad of WWE Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes. “The American Dream” is officially credited with creating the match format, which first debuted in 1987 at The Great American Bash for Jim Crockett Promotions.
Owens isn’t the only one pay homage to Dusty though. WWE instilled the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic on their NXT brand — which first debuted in 2015. The following year, the company debuted a bronze statue of the icon at their respective WrestleMania 32 AXXESS. In 2019, All Elite Wrestling re-named their “go position” backstage in remembrance of Rhodes, deeming it “The Dusty Position,” with the legend’s signature cowbell attached to it.
Cody Rhodes Responds
Though Kevin Owens fell short in his efforts for his team at Survivor Series: WarGames, the tribute caught the eye of Dusty’s real life son, Cody Rhodes. “The American Nightmare” seemingly responded to Owen’s kind act, recognizing his late father’s lasting effect on the professional wrestling landscape.
“Ha at home, he was all ours. But in the sport, he’s got a lot more kids,” Rhodes wrote via Twitter. “So many folks he started/mentored & all the concepts he created still being used fought through a decade of bad press from some rags, but seeing his fingerprints and genius shine from the grave is special.”
Rhodes has remained off WWE programming following his in-ring bout against Seth Rollins at Hell In A Cell, where he sported a wild pectoral injury.
