Randy Orton ‘Hurting’ Heading Into WWE WrestleMania 42 Match With Cody Rhodes

WWE

Randy Orton is reportedly “hurting” heading into his Undisputed WWE Championship match with Cody Rhodes at WWE WrestleMania 42 Night One.

“The Viper” is heading into his third WrestleMania main event seeking a 15th world championship win, and will look to do so at the expense of his former protégé and long-time friend Cody Rhodes in Las Vegas.

With Pat McAfee in his corner, Orton seemingly has the advantage over Rhodes, however, a new report from Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter has potentially cast some doubt over the result of this Saturday’s main event bout.

Revealing that Orton is “hurting” heading into this weekend, Meltzer wrote:

Perhaps most notable in the McAfee promo is that he said that if Randy Orton doesn’t beat Cody Rhodes for the title, that he will never do anything involving WWE again. Obviously that is not happening. In fact, the only result, given that promo, that was almost completely clear is Orton winning.

We were told that Orton is hurting so there is a possibility that would change, as it would make no sense for Orton to win if he has to take time off, but McAfee’s statement came across like it’s as close to a lock as possible.

Given the Orton & McAfee vs. Rhodes & Jelly Roll match at Backlash on 5/9 that was on the schedule, all signs point to McAfee not leaving and Orton not being expected to have to take time off.

The exact nature of Orton’s potential injury is not yet known, but we will provide further updates on his condition should they arise between now and WrestleMania 42 this weekend.

WWE’s Alternative Plans If Randy Orton Is Injured

Pat McAfee and Randy Orton’s mission statement of “saving the wrestling business” of course hinges on the latter being fit and healthy, and as mentioned in Meltzer’s report, McAfee’s WWE future also hinges on Orton securing the win in Las Vegas.

Unless Orton is seriously injured we can expect him to compete as planned at WrestleMania 42, however, the result of his match with Rhodes, and in-turn, the future of his alliance with McAfee, is certainly in doubt.

While Pat himself has vowed to disappear from WWE if Orton loses, the company could likely find a way to back out of this stipulation if Orton had to lose at WrestleMania due to being hurt.

Although fans would likely prefer if the entire McAfee angle was dropped, WWE could simply replace Orton with another heel star after WrestleMania 42 if they didn’t want their creative plans to fall to the wayside entirely.

Drew McIntyre obviously has the recent history with Cody Rhodes and could slot in if required, but again, that probably wouldn’t install much excitement within the vocal WWE fanbase if McAfee was still involved.

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• wwe
• WrestleMania
• Randy Orton
• Cody Rhodes
• Injury
• pat mcafee
• WrestleMania 42

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