Nintendo Forced WWE's Cody Rhodes to Ditch His Zelda Boots

Back in 2008, a young Cody Rhodes was proudly showing off his wrestling boots in the pages of WWE Magazine. The detail he wanted everyone to notice wasn't the stitching or the colour. It was the Triforce, the iconic three-triangle symbol from The Legend of Zelda, which he'd had worked into his gear as a personal philosophy statement. "I replay The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past for Super Nintendo every year," he told the magazine. "The Triforce symbolized power, wisdom and courage. I thought I could apply those qualities to my life."

That Triforce didn't last. As Rhodes revealed on the latest episode of his podcast What Do You Wanna Talk About?, first spotted by VGC, Nintendo's legal team eventually came knocking. "I also got a cease and desist from Nintendo," Rhodes told fellow wrestler Kit Wilson mid-conversation, dropping the bombshell as casually as you'd mention a parking ticket.

Rhodes was gracious about it. "It was very kind. They were polite. They weren't coming after anybody. I'm not the first guy to have the Triforce." He's right about that last part. Nintendo has a long, well-documented history of sending cease and desist letters to anyone using their IP without permission, from fan game developers to YouTubers to, apparently, professional wrestlers performing on live television in front of millions.

Of all the companies in gaming, Nintendo is the one you'd least want to test on intellectual property. They've shut down ROM sites, killed fan-made remakes years in the making, and gone after creators with a consistency that borders on algorithmic. The fact that their letter to Rhodes was polite doesn't change what it was: a multi-billion dollar corporation telling a wrestler he can't have a triangle pattern on his shoes. I get protecting your trademarks, and legally Nintendo probably had to act, but there's something absurd about a cease and desist reaching a pair of wrestling boots.

Rhodes' Zelda Philosophy

The conversation on the podcast went deeper than just the boots. Rhodes, who has the Triforce tattooed on his ring finger, explained why the symbol meant so much to him as a performer. "I thought about the principles of the Triforce, which are power, courage, and wisdom," he said. "Zelda's the wise one, obviously Link is the one who's got the courage, and power is Ganon. They make up the three parts of the Triforce."

He connected those three ideas directly to performing in the ring: being ambitious enough to seek power, wise enough to learn from experience, and courageous enough to throw yourself off the top rope and bust your elbow night after night knowing it'll only get worse. It's a surprisingly thoughtful reading of a game series that most people associate with smashing pots and collecting rupees.

Rhodes then went on a tangent that I wasn't expecting. He compared the release of Twilight Princess to the professional wrestling business. "Twilight Princess is a story about wrestling," he said. "Fans like what they like, and when they get vocal enough, the whole world can change." He drew a direct parallel between the fan backlash to Wind Waker's art style pushing Nintendo toward the darker Twilight Princess and the WWE fanbase campaigning for him to face Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 40 instead of The Rock. "Wind Waker's a great game," he added. "They just weren't ready for how it looked."

That comparison actually holds up better than it has any right to. Both situations involved a passionate fanbase rejecting a creative direction and the company eventually course-correcting. Rhodes clearly thinks about this stuff more than the average celebrity gamer who name-drops titles for clout.

The Triforce boots are long gone, but Rhodes hasn't stopped mixing gaming with wrestling. He showed up to Ring of Honor's Final Battle 2018 dressed as Venom Snake from Metal Gear Solid 5, and he's currently set to play Guile in an upcoming Street Fighter movie alongside Roman Reigns as Akuma. Given that Nintendo's legal reach apparently extends to boot decorations on a wrestling show, I'd imagine Rhodes will be keeping his future gaming references firmly outside the House of Mario.