Okay, so, I’ve been obsessed with Cody Rhodes lately, especially his whole “American Nightmare” thing. And that neck tattoo? Iconic. I decided, “You know what? I’m doing it. I’m getting the tattoo.”
My Tattoo Adventure
First things first, I spent hours looking at pictures. Like, a ridiculous amount of time. I wanted to get the design just right. I zoomed in on every photo I could find of Cody, trying to figure out the exact shape, the shading, all those little details.
Then, I started looking for a tattoo artist. This was important. I didn’t want some random person messing this up. I checked out portfolios online, read reviews, and asked around for recommendations. Finally, I found this one artist, Mark, who seemed to specialize in this kind of detailed work. His linework was sick, and the shading in his pieces was crazy good.
I booked a consultation with Mark. I brought in all my reference pictures and we talked about the design for like an hour. He had some great suggestions about size and placement. We decided to go a little smaller than Cody’s, just because I didn’t think I could pull off something that big. I wanted it on my collarbone, kinda similar to where Cody has his, but not exactly the same.
Next up was the actual tattooing. I won’t lie, I was nervous. But Mark was super chill. He showed me the stencil, we made a few minor adjustments, and then he got to work.
- Step 1: He cleaned the area.
- Step 2: He applied the stencil.
- Step 3: He outlined the design.
- Step 4: He started filling in the shading.
The whole thing took about three hours. It wasn’t too painful, more like a constant scratching sensation. The worst part was probably just sitting still for so long. I watched him use a few different machines, one for the outlines, and it sounds scary but there was another for the shading.
When it was finally done, I was stoked. It looked even better than I imagined. Mark wrapped it up and gave me all the aftercare instructions. I followed them religiously. I kept it clean, applied the ointment he gave me, and avoided picking at it. Just like he told me to do.
It’s been a few weeks now, and it’s fully healed. I absolutely love it. It’s a constant reminder to chase my dreams, just like Cody did. It’s a conversation starter, for sure. People always ask me about it, and I get to talk about wrestling and Cody’s whole story. It’s pretty awesome.
