Randy Orton spent two straight weeks on WWE television asking whether Cody Rhodes’ dog Pharaoh was dead. On Tuesday, Rhodes confirmed the husky has died.
Rhodes announced the news in a long Instagram story, calling Pharaoh a “crisis dog” who turned up whenever the family needed him. “It goes without saying, he was a good boy. My best man,” Rhodes wrote. He signed off with the last thing he told the dog: “you did your job. We love you.”
Pharaoh was a white Siberian husky who had been with Cody and Brandi Rhodes since 2011. He walked to the ring in both AEW and WWE, had his own plush and shirts on WWE Shop, and appeared in WWE 2K24 as a manager card. Rhodes pulled him off wrestling travel in August 2024, at 13, after a final walkout at SummerSlam in Cleveland.
The SmackDown Segments
Orton wrote Pharaoh into the storyline on the August 28 episode of SmackDown, part of the build to their match at Sunday Night’s Main Event. Trying to bait Rhodes into throwing a punch and forfeiting his title shot, Orton asked, “Did that dog die? Is that dog dead?” then asked whether Rhodes’ daughters had buried him in the family’s Atlanta backyard.
He returned to it in a backstage segment on September 4. “Turns out he’s not even dead. You’ll be burying him soon, huh?” Orton said.
Both were scripted segments written well in advance, and nothing suggests anyone involved knew how close Pharaoh was. He had been off the road for two years on age grounds and was 15.
Orton beat Rhodes at Sunday Night’s Main Event on September 6 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, landing an RKO after a low blow that also dropped a referee. That evened the series at a win apiece following Rhodes’ victory over Orton at WrestleMania 42, with a third match unbooked.
Rhodes has not referenced the segments since announcing the death, and WWE has given no indication of whether that thread continues on SmackDown this week. Our full write-up of Cody Rhodes’ tribute to Pharaoh has the complete post.
