Cody Rhodes can't beat Randy Orton; WrestleMania 42 match could be in jeopardy for that exact reason, says analyst

Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton have a rich history in WWE, dating back to their time together as part of Legacy. A WWE analyst believes a storyline is in play for the two stars to meet at WrestleMania 42.

On the latest episode of the Notsam Wrestling podcast, Sam Roberts looked into the possible scenarios for WrestleMania 42. One of the potential matchups that came up was the long-overdue Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton for the Undisputed WWE Championship.

If Roberts were booking the match, he would go the Andre the Giant-Hulk Hogan route, wherein their friendship was the basis of their feud at WrestleMania 3. The analyst believes that if WWE can convince him that the reason for not having a title match between Rhodes and Orton was due to The American Nightmare's fear of losing to The Viper, he would be invested.

Roberts even suggested planting the seeds at the Royal Rumble, slowly building up to Elimination Chamber. However, it's all about trying to tell the story of Rhodes being afraid of Orton in a way that could also jeopardize the match if not done right.

"You start to plant the seeds and then maybe something happens at the Rumble where Randy doesn't win or maybe it's Cody's fault or maybe Cody congratulates the guy that does win. Maybe Randy’s down to the final two in the Rumble and then somebody else wins. Maybe Cody congratulates him. Maybe whatever. Now all of a sudden, that's like the straw that broke the camel's back. And now Randy's got to go into that Elimination Chamber, RKO everybody. And you do tell this Hogan-Andre story of Randy and Cody going into WrestleMania. And you convince the audience and you convince me in the audience that maybe the reason why that title shot hasn't been given is because Cody knows and we all know that Cody can't beat Randy Orton for the (WWE) Championship. That's a WrestleMania match," Roberts said.

Maybe the story could start as soon as this Friday, with Randy Orton facing Drew McIntyre on SmackDown.

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Cody Rhodes has a 4-9 record against Randy Orton

According to Cagematch, Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton have faced each other 13 times in WWE. These are all televised singles matches, with Orton winning nine of those matches.

However, 12 of these matches happened before Rhodes left WWE in 2016. Their only match after The American Nightmare returned was at Night of Champions this year. Rhodes defeated Orton to become the 2025 King of the Ring and the number one contender for the Undisputed WWE Championship at SummerSlam.

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