Cody Rhodes Breaks Silence Amid TKO Reportedly Sabotaging His Randy Orton Storyline

Cody Rhodes has been reported to have legitimate gripes with TKO over its executives poking their noses in his WrestleMania storylines.

Cody Rhodes Breaks Silence Amid TKO Reportedly Sabotaging His Randy Orton Storyline

Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton [via- WWE]

The dream feud of Cody Rhodes overcoming his longtime wrestling mentor-cum-friend, Randy Orton, was supposed to be one of the most compelling stories that WWE has told in recent memory. But with the revelation of Pat McAfee as the one that’s been in Orton’s ears for the last month or so, it’s now headed to a route no wrestling fan remotely asked for.

It has already been established by media outlets that getting McAfee involved in the Rhodes/Orton saga was an edict that came directly from the TKO brass, which, in all likelihood, could’ve been done at the behest of TKO CEO and Executive President Ari Emanuel. It falls in line with the fact that McAfee hired Emanuel to help him secure TV and movie roles in Hollywood, as per a Bloomberg report in February.

It also noted that Emanuel was entrusted with the onus of turning the ex-NFL player into the next Sylvester Stallone. And if one looks at it, the integration of Pat McAfee in a WrestleMania storyline featuring two of the best bell-to-bell wrestlers to ever grace the squared circle is nothing but Ari Emanuel rendering his services to the former Colts punter. And that’s a shame for those who were looking forward to a pure wrestling feud between Rhodes and Orton.

‘The American Nightmare’ took to social media on Sunday afternoon to break silence on the rapidly escalating situation encircling his ongoing rivalry with Randy Orton. The Undisputed WWE Champion posted that iconic Game of Thrones GIF depicting Jon Snow drawing out his sword to combat a cavalry pressing at him.

By the looks of it, the former AEW EVP is insinuating that his back is against the wall with multiple enemies knocking at his door. He not only has to fend off a 14-time world champion and his once-cherished mentor but also his newly minted alliance with Pat McAfee, which is the brainchild of TKO executives.

‘The American Nightmare’ has reported gripes with TKO for its brass repeatedly meddling in his WrestleMania-bound storylines. The promo that he cut later in the night on SmackDown wasn’t originally supposed to happen.

The online backlash to the reveal of McAfee as Orton’s caller prompted WWE to ask Rhodes to shoot from his hip regarding McAfee and TKO. While Rhodes didn’t explicitly mention TKO in his harangue, he said he knew whom he was talking to about the people that McAfee represents.

Pat McAfee’s wrestling future is contingent on Randy Orton vs. Cody Rhodes result at WrestleMania

Pat McAfee has proclaimed through his social media posts that he wouldn’t be seen on wrestling television ever again if Randy Orton loses to Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 42. The College GameDay host quoted a reply to WWE’s post on X expressing shock over McAfee joining Orton by saying the only shock around here is Orton, the greatest sports entertainer of all time, not running WWE.

Pat McAfee aligned with Randy Orton on SmackDown
Pat McAfee aligned with Randy Orton against Cody Rhodes on SmackDown [via- WWE]

‘The Boomstick’ affirmed that it will change come WrestleMania when ‘The Viper’ becomes a 15-time world champion and saves the wrestling business for future generations. McAfee yelled at a battered Cody Rhodes on SmackDown that the business he’d been leading was terrible.

The 38-year-old talked smack about the current state of WWE, wondering why WrestleMania wasn’t still sold out two weeks out from showtime. McAfee also brought up how SmackDown recently did its lowest-rated episode in history and that he was tired of seeing 5’5″ sized wrestlers going at it for no rhyme or reason week in and week out.

The ESPN analyst underscored how it was a disgrace to the old, more precisely, the Attitude Era, fans of WWE who grew up watching the likes of Steve Austin and The Rock. McAfee wants to restore a semblance of how pro wrestling used to be back then, and he’s backing Orton as the catalyst for that change. While the fans did agree with McAfee’s grievances about the modern-day WWE, his infusion into the Orton/Rhodes story screamed gratuitous to the majority.

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