Video video games and professional wrestling have lengthy had a symbiotic relationship, with many performers incorporating components from their favourite video games into their personas, movesets, and ring gear. For a short time, present WWE Undisputed Champion Cody Rhodes displayed the enduring Triforce image from The Legend of Zelda on his boots, however in keeping with the American Nightmare, a stop and desist letter from Nintendo noticed him retire that image from his costume.
“I assumed the ideas of the Triforce–which are energy, braveness, and knowledge. I assumed it was simply relevant,” Rhodes said to fellow famous person Equipment Wilson in an episode of WWE’s What Do You Wanna Talk About podcast. “I additionally received a stop and desist from Nintendo. It was very type.”
Rhodes additionally bears a Triforce tattoo on his finger, however Nintendo probably will not be requesting him to take away a few of his flesh because it’s too small to see on TV. Like many different wrestlers, Rhodes is a famous gamer, and he’ll be showing within the live-action Avenue Fighter film later this yr as William F. Guile, goofy haircut and all.
AEW’s Kenny Omega is one other well-known online game fan in wrestling circles, as a number of of his strikes are named after Closing Fantasy and Avenue Fighter attacks–including the V-Set off knee strike and the One Winged Angel ending transfer. Notably, he appeared in full Sephiroth cosplay on the 2023 NJPW Wrestle Kingdom occasion.
As for Nintendo, the corporate is understood for being aggressive with the safety of its IP, particularly when there’s potential cash on the road. Within the case of Rhodes, there is a good probability that it did not need to see the Triforce seem on official WWE merchandising like motion figures or official T-shirts, which might outcome on it dropping potential income from its IP. Only in the near past, Nintendo went after the YouTube creator behind the favored sequence of “PokeNational Geographic” movies, and all of that content material has since been faraway from YouTube following a sequence of copyright strikes.