Cody Rhodes faced the harsh reality of the night he finally finished his story in WWE.
The American Nightmare sat down with Michael Cole for an interview on the September 18 episode of SmackDown. During their conversation, Cole exposed the harsh truth behind the night Rhodes won the Undisputed WWE title at WrestleMania 40 in historic fashion.
The veteran WWE commentator pointed out that every WWE superstar who celebrated with Rhodes in the ring that night (Jey Uso, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, Randy Orton, John Cena) eventually stabbed him in the back. He said:
Remember back at WrestleMania when you finally finished the story? And the ring filled up with people, you were on people’s shoulders celebrating? If you take a look back at that picture, all of those people have stabbed you in the back.
Cody Rhodes has been embroiled in a rivalry with Randy Orton this year. It began on the road to WrestleMania 42 when Orton turned on him. Rhodes retained his WWE title on Night 1 of the event, and Orton went on a hiatus.
The Viper returned to WWE at SummerSlam 2026 and reignited the feud. He went on to defeat The Prodigal Son in a rematch at Sunday Night’s Main Event. Moreover, Rhodes said in the aforementioned interview that he was not done with Orton.
So we will have to wait and see what happens next in this heated feud between Rhodes and Orton.
