Cody Rhodes Credits Ric Flair for His Signature Suit Style

Cody Rhodes has cultivated a distinctive wardrobe that sets him apart from many WWE stars. His preference for formal attire, however, stems from one of wrestling’s most iconic figures.

On the Double Coverage podcast, Rhodes credited WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair as a key influence on his fashion sense. He noted the contrast between Flair’s glamorous style and his father Dusty Rhodes’ “Common Man” persona. (via Fightful)

“A lot stolen from the Nature Boy, Ric Flair, as far as suited and booted and the whole concept of… he’s kind of wrestling’s, and this is going to sound strange, but the first pro athlete of wrestling in a sense of that big 80s flashing the cash, the jets, the suits, the high lifestyle that came with it. It’s funny because he’s wrestling my dad, the majority of the 1980s, and Dusty’s running common man, man of the people, blue‑collar. But so much of what I do is more stolen from Ric than Dusty, which is hats off to Ric. I mean, what pro wrestler doesn’t want to steal from the greatest of all time? Nature Boy is the best.”

Rhodes admitted that his suit‑centric look initially felt somewhat performative. Over time, though, he grew to genuinely enjoy the habit, joking that attempts to tone it down earned him teasing from his wife, Brandi, as well as fellow wrestlers Matt Cardona and Chelsea Green.

“I tell people, cause I think some of my peers for a long minute thought that the suits and stuff were real performative and maybe they were, but after a while it became this really great feeling. Felt professional. We were talking about your clean sneaks earlier. You like this sense of pride, and when I was away from WWE, the sense of that guy is doing things. The classic case of dress for the job you want, I suppose. Now to the point where it’s all I have. I got shamed because I bought some polos. You can’t just wear suits all the time. So I wore jeans and some polos. Chelsea Green, Matt Cardona, and my wife shamed me for, I guess, it was too fancy of a polo. I don’t even know how you can go too fancy. But yeah, I’m just going to go all suits, all the time now at this point. I couldn’t get it right.”

Rhodes is scheduled to appear on the November 4 episode of WWE NXT to present the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic trophy. He is also set to face Randy Orton in a Last Man Standing match at WWE Crown Jewel on November 7 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

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