3 Reasons why Cody Rhodes beat Jey Uso in the WWE King of the Ring Semifinals

The go-home edition of WWE RAW before Night of Champions saw Cody Rhodes clinching a big win over Jey Uso in the semi-final of the King of the Ring 2025 and officially punching his ticket for NOC this weekend.

The American Nightmare will clash with his mentor and former 14-time WWE Champion Randy Orton at the Kingdom Arena. This will be the first-ever clash between Rhodes and Orton since the 39-year-old superstar returned to the company.

However, this listicle examines three reasons why Cody Rhodes defeated Jey Uso in the King of the Ring 2025 semifinals on RAW.

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#1. Mentor vs. Prodigy is a big WWE bout

Since Cody Rhodes returned to WWE, the fans often pitched a dream match against his former factionmate and mentor, Randy Orton. Jey Uso vs. The Viper wouldn’t garner the eyeballs that Rhodes vs Orton could capture.

Michael Cole has already billed the King of the Ring 2025 final bout between Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton as a mentor vs. prodigy match, which would add some backstory and anticipation to their match.

#2. Cody Rhodes needs to win KOTR 2025

The American Nightmare has returned to the Stamford-based promotion with a vengeance after things took a turn. At WrestleMania 41, John Cena played possum and used his cheap antics to end Rhodes’s Undisputed WWE Championship reign.

Meanwhile, Uso recently lost his World Heavyweight Championship to Gunther after an impactful 51-day reign and, unlike the American Nightmare, had no story attached to him. Rhodes has won the semi-final, so he could eventually beat Randy Orton, punch his ticket to SummerSlam 2025, and book his rematch against the Last Real Champion.

#3. Jey Uso might potentially leave RAW

Jey Uso's loss to Cody Rhodes may serve as the perfect reason for the Yeet Master to switch brands and move to Friday Night SmackDown. Jacob Fatu has finally turned on Solo Sikoa and announced an all-out war against him and his corrupt regime.

On SmackDown, fans saw a glimpse of a new Bloodline as Jimmy Uso rushed out to help Jacob Fatu against Solo Sikoa and JC Mateo. Sikoa won’t sit idly, and Tonga brothers might return to join him in his cause of distraction, outnumbering Fatu and Big Jim, creating Bloodline civil war 2.0. Jey Uso could ultimately join the saga, a reunion with his twin brother and Samoan Werewolf.

About the author

Nayan is a WWE News and Features writer at Sportskeeda Wrestling. After completing his bachelor's degree in Mass Communication from Poddar International, he began working as a YouTube script writer. Nayan then transitioned to Pinkvilla as a combat sports writer. He gained valuable experience there before finally coming under the banner of Sportskeeda.

Within 1.5 years, Nayan has written over 1,000 articles, interviewed MFN promotion owners, and conducted a Twitter campaign that gained over 50k retweets and more. He puts fact-checking and mindful journalism above everything by applying a three-check method, where he tries to verify reports from reliable sources and cross-check whether other major publications have covered them.

Looking back at his association with pro wrestling, Nayan recalls being hooked on the sport after watching Shawn Michael vs. The Undertaker at WrestleMania 25. Since then, the product has been an inseparable part of his life.

Apart from The Heartbreak Kid being Nayan's favorite wrestler for his confidence and charisma, he is also a fan of Brock Lesnar due to The Beast's "work speaks louder than words" attitude.

Nayan can be found performing mixed martial arts and reading true crime in his free time.

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Edited by Angana Roy