Summary

Cody Rhodes said the addition of Pat McAfee has changed the tone of his WrestleMania 42 program with Randy Orton, and not in a way he thinks Orton's fans should want.

While speaking with Joe Tessitore on WrestleMania 42 Countdown, Rhodes said he originally expected a more personal student-versus-teacher story with Orton, the man he had his first WWE television match against. Instead, Rhodes said the situation took a different turn once Orton left him bloodied and McAfee became part of the feud.

Rhodes' latest comments continue the same frustration he showed in an earlier guarded answer on McAfee's role in the feud, but this time he framed it around what an Orton title win would actually look like.

Quote from Cody Rhodes

"There's a expression in my family when it comes to WrestleMania specifically, where we say, that's a curve ball. Curve ball. We had a curveball here. I thought we were going into this student vs. teacher. I thought I'd get the opportunity for the guy I had my first match on WWE TV with, to look at me and see me. I've said that a bunch, that's a really important thing for him to see me and know, oh, he's a totally different animal. Not only that, he's gonna beat me. I need him to see that and know that, that's what I thought I was going into. So put on top of it as if it's just a cherry, but it's clearly far deeper than that."

Rhodes later went on to say:

"The fact that he left me in a pool of my own blood on your desk. If you're a Randy Orton fan and you want him to get 15, I don't think you wanted him to get 15 standing next to Pat McAfee and being something that he's never been before. This is a tricky word in our world, but I'll tell you, it's fake. The Randy Orton that you're seeing now is fake. The Randy Orton that you're seeing now will do anything, as we've seen, to get to 15. So again, you can't reconcile that, and really doesn't help me or behoove me to look at all the good stuff. I know what I felt, I felt the steps against my head. I felt the chair against my head. You only really need one to know what you're walking into at WrestleMania 42 and how you need to be walking into it."

What Rhodes says this changes for Randy Orton at WrestleMania 42

Rhodes is not just talking about McAfee as a distraction. He is arguing that Orton's chase for a 15th world title means less if it comes with a version of Orton that feels manufactured rather than dangerous in his usual way.

That gives the WrestleMania 42 match a clearer edge. Rhodes is presenting Orton less as a respected rival and more as someone who has compromised himself to reach the championship, which raises the stakes for their Undisputed WWE Championship match on Night 2.

Sources

Cody Rhodes while speaking with Joe Tessitore on WrestleMania 42 Countdown