Arkansas Razorback Marching Band pays tribute to WWE Champion Cody Rhodes

Arkansas’s band, The Razorbacks Marching Band, paid tribute to WWE Champion Cody Rhodes during the team’s August 29 opener against UAPB from War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.

The Razorbacks Marching Band played Downstait’s “Kingdom,” the 39-year-old’s walkout music, as the clock was running out in the first quarter of a 70-0 Arkansas win. The Razorbacks had built a 28-0 lead when “Kingdom” began playing.

Certainly, Arkansas was ruling its kingdom in the Natural State’s capital city, accumulating 687 total yards under new offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino and Travis Williams’s defense only ceding 130; with just seven given up on the ground. Taylen Green looked like an upgrade over KJ Jefferson’s last two seasons and Ja'Quinden Jackson looked like a suitable replacement for Raheim Sanders with 101 yards and two touchdowns on eight carries

Bobby Petrino has been Arkansas’s American Nightmare

While certainly not the most perfect one-to-one comparison, there are a few synergies between Rhodes and the former head coach who made his triumphant return as offensive coordinator to the program he once led, Petrino.

Like Rhodes, Petrino had face-altering injuries in 2011. Petrino’s was on a motorcycle – the less said about how it happened, the better – while Rhodes’ was from a 619 courtesy of Rey Mysterio.

All jokes aside, Rhodes left the WWE in 2016 and built up a name elsewhere before making a triumphant return and winning world championship gold with the company in 2024. Petrino was famously fired for cause, but stuck around the sport and ended up working for several major programs as head coach and offensive coordinator before coming back and potentially finishing his story; be it as head coach again at some point or under Sam Pittman.

Lamar Jackson may end up being to Petrino what AEW was to Rhodes if this second stint with Arkansas ends up coming close to as successful as Cody’s 2024 has been. Starting up All Elite Wrestling made Rhodes undeniable in the pro wrestling business like having a Heisman winner like Jackson did for Petrino.

That would make the last few seasons in Fayetteville the Razorbacks’ “Stardust” era. For Arkansas’s fans’ sake, they better hope Petrino is their “American Nightmare.”