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Cody Rhodes Comments On Potential WWE Championship Match With Randy Orton

Originally posted on Wrestling on SI | By Jon Alba | Last updated Apr 18, 2025 4:24 PM ET

Cody Rhodes has taken over the mantle as the face of WWE , and will have a career-defining match with 16-time world champion John Cena at WrestleMania 41 this weekend for the Undisputed WWE championship.

It's been a long road for the "American Nightmare" to this point, going from tag wrestler, to rising star, to the indies, to starting AEW, back to the main event in WWE. Along the way, he's encountered various future and current Hall of Famers.

Rhodes did a special pre-WrestleMania Q&A that The Takedown on SI's Rick Ucchino was in attendance for in Las Vegas on Friday. There, Rhodes made a declaration about who his eyes are set on next should he get past Cena Sunday night.

Cody Rhodes isn’t looking past John Cena, but if he leaves with the WWE Title at #WrestleMania, he wants Randy Orton at Backlash in St. Louis. @onlocationexp pic.twitter.com/l0rclyliWs
— Rick Ucchino (@RickUcchino) April 18, 2025

"I don't want to look past WrestleMania 41. But there's a situation where, here's one of my legit true-life mentors in John Cena. And then on the other side of the coin, one of my true-to-life real mentors is Randy Orton," Rhodes said.

"Again, can't look past John Cena, but if we're leaving Sunday with the championship title like the north star of our business, like I expect we should be leaving, I would love to wrestle Randy Orton at Backlash."

Orton and Rhodes share quite a bit of WWE history, of course. Orton was the stable leader of Legacy, consisting of Orton, Rhodes, and Ted DiBiase Jr. The three had a triple-threat match at WrestleMania XXVI, a bout which Orton won.

WWE Backlash is scheduled for Sat., May 10 in St. Louis, Orton's hometown. It is still unclear whether or not Orton will have a match at WrestleMania, as his original scheduled match against Kevin Owens was canceled due to Owens needing neck surgery.

This article first appeared on Wrestling on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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