Summary

Cody Rhodes says the biggest difference between WWE now and the company he wrestled in at WrestleMania 26 is the pace of the in-ring product.

Looking back on his triple threat match with Randy Orton and Ted DiBiase Jr. at that 2010 WrestleMania, Rhodes said today's bell-to-bell action and the volume of high spots are on another level. The comment adds another layer to a WrestleMania 42 build that is already centered on how much both Rhodes and Orton have changed since their Legacy days.

That broader history has been part of Rhodes' recent media run, including his argument that Legacy taught him what it takes to beat Randy Orton.

Quote from Cody Rhodes

"The speed of the game is really up there in terms of the action, bell to bell, what a wrestler would call a high spot. What you're seeing is nothing like we saw back then, and even that, this is WWE's first WrestleMania on ESPN, a Rhodes is finally WWE champion after years and years and years of us and my family doing this. So it's a completely different ballgame and we're looking at him now. It's a completely different Randy Orton too."

What Cody Rhodes' comment means for Randy Orton at WrestleMania 42

Rhodes is not just selling nostalgia here, he is drawing a line between the version of WWE he came up in and the one he now leads as champion. That matters for WrestleMania 42 because his match with Orton is being framed as more than a reunion of former Legacy stablemates.

By stressing how much the ring style and the stakes have changed, Rhodes is also underscoring that this is not a simple callback to WrestleMania 26. WWE can lean into that contrast over the final stretch of the build, especially with Rhodes now speaking as champion and Orton positioned as a different threat than the one he faced 16 years ago.

Sources

As reported by Fightful.