WWE fans in tears over Cody Rhodes’ emotional message after WrestleMania 40

Cody Rhodes has finished his story, and fans around the world are overwhelmed with a whole range of emotions.

Two years after returning to the company, the American Nightmare toppled Roman Reigns in one of the all time best endings to become the new Undisputed WWE Universal Champion in a night of epic results and bouts.

It means Cody now holds the title his never won, and his Hall of Famer father was close to his heart in the moments after his big win.

Speaking to Metro.co.uk in the post-show press conference backstage at Philadelphia’s Lincoln Financial Field, told us what he would say to his dad as he looked down on him.

‘That’s a great question,’ he smiled while fighting back tears. ‘If I’m being honest, I think I’d wanna say to him… that I hope I lived up to your name, and thank you for that name.’

He quipped: ‘And then I would say, sorry about the tattoo.’

Broadcaster Byron Saxton had started to wrap up the press conference before our question, but Cody was determined to answer one more, which led to Metro bringing his public celebrations to a close.

‘If I learned anything from my dad, if it’s a good night you don’t want it to end,’ he said, while fans around the world were moved by his comments.

Make a grown man cry,’ tweeted @xJahstin, while fellow X user @HeyyitsKourtnie wrote: ‘I’m gonna cry again.’

‘Happy tears for Cody. Dusty would be damn proud,’ said @AmbroseMoxMode, and fan @moneycalled added: ‘When he said “thank you for that name” genuinely made me tear up.’

Earlier in the press conference, he revealed that , Nick Khan and Bruce Prichard presented him with a watch that was full of emotion and personal history.

He explained: ‘[It] is the same watch that my dad had, that he pawned so I could go to acting school. So the level of investment and responsibility that the company put in my hands? I hope that I can pay it back and pay it forward 100 times over.’

Cody’s win was much more than simply the culmination of a two year story since , and even goes beyond the heartfelt tributes to his late dad.

It also marked the end of Roman Reigns’ historic 1,316 day run as champion, which concluded in a perfect matter covering everything that makes professional wrestling so engaging for anyone who truly loves it.

After keeping fans gripped with a straight up wrestling match, the bout descended into the chaos many predicted, with Jimmy and Jey Uso, Solo Sikoa, John Cena, Seth Rollins, The Rock and even The Undertaker appearing in a sequence straight out of The Avengers.

Elsewhere on the show, there was a memorable win for Bayley was she beat her former Damage CTRL teammate Iyo Sky to become WWE Women’s Champion.

And the opening match saw Drew McIntyre finally get his big moment in front of a full stadium as he won the World Heavyweight Title, but his insistence on mocking CM Punk proved to be his downfall as got laid out, leading to Damian Priest cashing in the Money In The Bank briefcase and leaving as champ.