Randy Orton Turns Heel on WWE SmackDown, Assaults Cody Rhodes Ahead of WrestleMania 42

The final segment of this week’s WWE SmackDown was supposed to go off without a hitch as Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes and his challenger Randy Orton were primed to sign the contract that makes their Undisputed WWE Championship at WrestleMania 42 official, but it didn’t. It went sideways more than anyone would’ve expected.

While the verbal exchange between these two wasn’t long before signing the contract, it was extremely heavy. Cody Rhodes told the story of how he left WWE and came back, not having that support system, except for Randy Orton. Rhodes would go on to say that he might not be Orton’s son or brother, but he was always his boy. After that heartfelt statement, Orton’s statement was a lot more serious.

Randy would say that it was “supposed to be easy, and Drew McIntyre should be the one he’s facing at WrestleMania 42. Instead, it’s his friend that he needs to go through to secure his 15th world championship. Randy Orton made it extremely clear that he needs this, and he’s hellbent on getting it. Rhodes would sign the contract, and Orton would go haywire, slamming his head into the table and ripping his clothes off.

Orton would throw Rhodes out of the ring and hit him with the steel steps, busting him open like a broken hydrant. Randy would not stop there, slamming Cody’s head onto the steel steps and raining down fists on him on top of the announcer’s table.

The Viper would prop the steel steps onto the commentary desk and place Rhodes’ head in between the steel steps’ gap. Jelly Roll would even get involved, trying to stop Orton along with an army of WWE officials. Orton would push Jelly Roll down, and Orton would walk away, realizing what he’s done.

But it seems like Orton didn’t learn his lesson and got a steel chair and delivered a chair shot to Cody’s head as it was sandwiched between the steel steps. Orton would take that chair in the middle of the ring, prop it up and sit on it as he held the Undisputed WWE Championship in his hands.