Cody Rhodes Crowned 2025 King Of The Ring

While Rhodes will now have his sights set on someone with whom he has a lot of recent history, he needed to make it past Orton in Riyadh first, someone he shares a lot more history with. Members of Legacy together, tonight was shockingly the first time Rhodes and Orton have met in singles competition since The American Nightmare returned to WWE, and it was evident they've been waiting for this moment.

It probably won't be the last time they face each other, but that's 1-0 to Rhodes in this latest run with one match in the books. Again, a predictable outcome since the man almost certainly awaiting the winner is Cena, and Cena and Orton already got their final match out of the way at Backlash. This one was Rhodes' for the taking, and he can now check becoming King of the Ring off his bucket list.

Randy Orton's Dark Nature Wound Up Being His Undoing

It was Orton being pulled in by the dark side that ultimately became his undoing. First when The Viper had Rhodes lined up for a punt kick. Orton hesitated, giving Rhodes enough time to recover and get out of the way when his opponent eventually gave in to his dark thoughts. Orton later removed the cover from one of the turnbuckles, and that wound up backfiring in an even bigger way.

It was Orton who wound up connecting with the turnbuckle, bouncing off straight into the Cross Rhodes. That was all she wrote, opening the door for Rhodes to be handed the crown. Once the coronation was done, Rhodes made it clear that whoever wins between Cena and Punk tonight, he'll be waiting for them at SummerSlam.