In one of the more unpopular results of WrestleMania 42 weekend, Cody Rhodes denied Randy Orton of his 15th World Championship reign.
Closing out night 1 of WWE’s biggest show of the year, Rhodes overcame the odds of a heel Orton and Pat McAfee interference to continue his third reign as WWE Champion. Although The American Nightmare was presented as the babyface heading into the match, many expected Orton to pick up the win in Las Vegas, heavily booing Rhodes after the bell and cheering when Orton hit the punt on his former friend.
As reported by Dave Meltzer in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the decision to have Rhodes win the match is in relation to McAfee looking to end his involvement in the storyline. Meltzer states that McAfee did not like the reaction from fans and talent, and elected to remove himself from the rivalry:
“I don’t know if he [McAfee] gave a reason but the belief in WWE was that he didn’t like the negativity of the fans, not the heel heat, but the negativity, plus even worse, the negativity of the angle from so much of the talent.”
McAfee was Orton’s ally heading into the match, with his inclusion into the storyline.
McAfee was first taken out of the match by Jelly Roll after being put through the announce table, but later stormed to the ring wearing a referee shirt after the official was knocked unconscious. Failing to count the winning pin, McAfee was then hit with an RKO by Orton, allowing Rhodes to capitalise on the chaos to hit a Cross Rhodes and retain his title.
WWE Looks To Pivot Away From Rumoured Randy Orton And Cody Rhodes Match
Prior to WrestleMania, it was heavily rumoured that one of the matches set for Backlash would see Orton and McAfee face Rhodes and Jelly Roll. However, as seen on the Raw after WrestleMania, a match between Rhodes and CM Punk looks set to be on the cards soon:
“So when (McAfee) asked out, the decision was made to go in the direction of Punk vs. Rhodes as a big match (perhaps for SummerSlam although I don’ t know that) and thus not go with Orton as champion. There were those who said the decision was part of all the chaos taking place behind-the-scenes on Saturday before the first show and the call was made the day of. However, those in the know, confirmed the chaos, even saying it was like WCW, but we were told the decision to go with Rhodes over Orton was made prior to the day of the show.”
Punk lost his World Heavyweight Championship to Roman Reigns in the main event of night 2. On the Raw after Mania, Rhodes met with Punk in the ring and promised The Best in the World a WWE title match whenever he wanted it.
Featured image: WWE
