Cody and Brandi Rhodes have expanded their family. The retired professional wrestler, 42, and her fellow WWE champion husband, 40, quietly welcomed their second baby together, daughter Leilani Ella Runnels.
They announced the news on Instagram. The baby joins big sister Liberty Iris, 4.
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“Welcome to the world Leilani Ella Runnels,” she captioned the post. “We are in love. Thank you God for answered prayers. Cody + Brandi + Libby + Lani = โค๏ธ.”
Cody shared the exciting news on his Instagram by re-sharing his wife’s post on his Instagram Stories. In a separate snap of their daughter, Liberty, she is wearing a pink hat that reads “Big Sister.”
Cody has been open about how fatherhood is changing him. In an interview with TODAY, he shared how he believes he will go about explaining his unique job to his oldest daughter.
“I wasn’t thinking I would have to have this conversation this early with her, but we did, because I left the ring at Elimination Chamber, [and] Travis Scott of all people put a very large mark on my face and my eardrum was busted,” he began, per PEOPLE. “She had a lot of concerns.”
“So what I have told her โ and I don’t know if this is the best strategy โ is that I’m pretending to be a superhero and I’m playing with my friends. And so far, that works, but we’ll see,” he continued. “Because I think the moment she sees playing with my friends turn into somebody, maybe beating me up, she has an adverse reaction.
Speaking with PEOPLE earlier this year, he spoke about how fatherhood has been transformative. โSo wrestling is selfish, and you got to get to the top, and you want to be number one,โ he said. โAnd for so long โ I even said this to [pro wrestler] Kevin Owens last week in the ring โ I wanted it for me. To a degree, maybe I wanted it for my dad a little. I wanted it for him,โ Cody added. โHaving a daughter right out of the gate, all of that went away. It was not about where I am. It was more about the life that I could give her.โ
He added, โYou have to really search inside your soul, like, how much do you really mean that? And for me, I felt like, no, that’s really it. I just want her to have the best life.โ