Cody Rhodes
Cody Rhodes
Overview
Cody Rhodes clashes with longtime friend Randy Orton for the Undisputed WWE Title. Women's World Champion Stephanie Vaquer to defend against Liv Morgan WrestleMania 42. Women’s Intercontinental Champion AJ Lee vs. Becky Lynch. Jacob Fatu vs. Drew McIntyre in an Unsanctioned Match. Four teams are going to battle it out for the WWE Women’s Tag Team Title. Logan Paul, Austin Theory & IShowSpeed vs. The Usos & LA Knight in a Six-Man Tag Team Match. Seth Rollins vs. Gunther.
Cast
12 people
Reviews
3 min readUpdating…
The Theater of Bruises and Myth
Wrestling, at its absolute peak, is the closest we get to a contemporary Greek tragedy, just with more spandex and pyrotechnics. To sit through WrestleMania 42 is to engage with a form of performance art that relies entirely on the suspension of disbelief—not in the reality of the violence, which is painfully, messily true, but in the archetypes the performers are playing. We aren't watching two people fight; we’re watching a grudge match that spans decades of professional and personal history.
The sweat on the mat feels like a condensation of every narrative thread woven over the last few years, brought to a boiling point under the blinding lights of the stadium.
The central friction point—the collision between Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton—is where the film finds its most resonant chord. Orton has spent the better part of two decades as the viper, a creature of cold, calculating instinct. Watching him move in the ring, you realize his physicality has shifted.
He’s no longer the reckless youth; there’s a heavy, deliberate pace to his movements now, a certain stiffness that suggests a man who knows exactly how much his own body has cost him. When he locks eyes with Rhodes, it isn't the blank stare of a villain; it's the tired, knowing look of an old mentor who has grown to resent his student's idealism.
Audience Opinions
Audience 6.0/10
"A heavily hyped stadium show that delivers a few big moments but stumbles with short matches, odd booking, and a flat main event."
Match quality on the card is described as wildly uneven, with Seth Rollins versus Gunther singled out as the only truly standout bout and Paige’s surprise return, Brock Lesnar’s farewell, and some comedy and celebrity spots adding scattered excitement. Short runtimes, constant breaks, heavy interference, and a sluggish Cody Rhodes versus Randy Orton main event leave the night feeling more like a drawn‑out TV episode than the explosive first half of a two‑night WrestleMania.
What viewers praise
- Rollins vs. Gunther showcase The singles match between Seth Rollins and Gunther is widely regarded as the best part of the night, praised for strong in‑ring work and big‑fight feel even if outside interference keeps it from being a full classic.
- Emotional Paige return The surprise return of Paige generates loud enthusiasm and nostalgia, seen as one of the few genuinely special WrestleMania‑worthy moments despite some visible rust.
- Brock Lesnar farewell moment The brief bout with Oba Femi is overshadowed by Lesnar leaving his boots and gloves in the ring, which is remembered as a powerful, emotional sendoff.
- Liv Morgan’s strong showing Liv Morgan’s performance around the Women’s World Title match earns praise for her charisma and post‑match fire, even from those who dislike the match layout.
Common complaints
- Rushed, shallow matches Match times are repeatedly called out as far too short for a four‑hour card, with only a couple of bouts allowed to breathe and several multi‑man or stipulation matches ending before any real drama can build.
- Commercials and pacing issues Long stretches feel dominated by promos and ads rather than wrestling, creating a stop‑start rhythm that reminds some of mid‑2010s weekly shows rather than a flagship event.
- Disappointing Cody–Orton main event The Undisputed Title match is criticized for sluggish stretches, a portrayal of Orton that feels like an injured veteran being carried, and a finish that lands closer to a melancholy sendoff than a hot WrestleMania climax.
- Overbooked interference finishes Heavy involvement from third parties in key matches, especially Rollins vs. Gunther and the main event, is seen as undercutting what could have been classic encounters.
- Lack of special stipulations Long‑time viewers complain that, aside from one unsanctioned match, the night lacks the cages, hardcore brawls, and other unique stipulations expected from the so‑called grandest stage, making the card feel tame and generic.
Recommended for
Committed WWE completionists Seth Rollins and Gunther fans Paige comeback watchers Brock Lesnar era nostalgists Big‑stadium sports entertainment followers
Buzz & Rumors
Public reportsWRESTLEMANIA 42 – SATURDAY: BACKSTAGE CHAOS, BETRAYALS & BIG MONEY MANIA
Las Vegas got the fireworks on camera, but the real explosions at WrestleMania 42 Saturday were happening off-screen and behind the curtain. From a yanked host city to a polarizing celebrity storyline and some very cranky fans, the “movie” you watched is only half the story.
CITY-SWAP SHOCKER: NEW ORLEANS LEFT AT THE ALTAR
- WrestleMania 42 wasn’t always destined for Allegiant Stadium. WWE first announced New Orleans’ Caesars Superdome as the host for April 2026… then abruptly ripped the show away less than a year later, stunning local officials and fans alike.
- The move reportedly blew a gigantic hole in New Orleans’ projected economy. Earlier WrestleMania visits had pumped in well over $100 million; local coverage pegged the lost impact for 42 around $140 million-plus.
- WWE’s line: Vegas flashed a bigger check. Reports noted the Las Vegas bid included a multi-million-dollar site fee and incentives, making it financially too juicy to turn down.
- Fans online went full conspiracy board, dissecting everything from slow early ticket sales in New Orleans to TKO’s new emphasis on site fees and tourism partnerships. Regardless, by the time Saturday’s show rolled, “WrestleMania Vegas” was the brand – and New Orleans was left with a Money in the Bank consolation prize instead of the big one.
PAT MCAFEE VS. THE WORLD: THE STORYLINE THAT IMPLODED
- Pat McAfee’s role in the Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton Undisputed WWE Championship saga was designed to be buzzworthy; mission accomplished… just not in the way WWE hoped. From the moment McAfee inserted himself into Orton’s orbit on TV, fans slammed the angle as forced and overexposed.
- In the ring on Saturday, McAfee went all-in: he promised he’d walk away from wrestling entirely if Orton lost at WrestleMania 42.
- The climax: McAfee tried to fast-count Cody’s downfall after an RKO, Cody kicked out, and a furious Orton turned on his own ally, dropping McAfee with a venomous RKO in front of a stunned crowd.
- Behind the scenes, reports say McAfee “opted out” of planned post-Mania storylines amid the backlash and his own pledge to quit if Orton failed. That decision nuked at least one follow-up tag match and forced creative to rewire its spring plans on the fly.
SCRAPPED MAIN EVENTS & INJURY NIGHTMARES
- Paul Heyman later pulled back the curtain on what WrestleMania 42 was supposed to look like. The original long-term destination? Seth Rollins vs. Roman Reigns in a headline clash, before Rollins’ injury blew that plan to pieces.
- Backup plan #2: a monster-making Bron Breakker vs. CM Punk showdown, heavily hinted at around the Royal Rumble, which also died when Breakker needed emergency hernia surgery in the lead-up to Mania.
- Heyman openly admitted that “everything was driving” toward Rollins–Reigns first, then Breakker–Punk, before both collapsed. By the time fans saw the final Vegas card, creative had essentially rebuilt the top of the show twice.
- Add in Cody Rhodes wrestling through a nasty eye injury suffered against Orton, and you’ve got a main-event picture that looked a lot more stable on TV than it ever was backstage.
FANS VS. ADS: THE COMMERCIAL BREAK BACKLASH
- If you felt like WrestleMania 42 Saturday was three minutes of wrestling followed by five minutes of commercials… math says you weren’t wrong. A post-show breakdown found that only 37.29% of WrestleMania 42’s runtime was actual in-ring action, while ads swallowed a staggering 19.61%.
- Social media absolutely torched the broadcast. “Ad breaks ruined WrestleMania 42” became a mini-genre on YouTube and Reddit, with fans seething that they’d paid premium prices to watch sponsors more than suplexes.
- Yet in the ultimate wrestling heel turn, those same ads helped make the show one of the “highest-grossing events in company history,” with a record 32 sponsors contributing to huge revenue despite lower announced attendance than WrestleMania 41.
- Ticket pricing didn’t help. Coverage leading into the show noted WrestleMania 42 sales lagging behind 41 by almost 20%, with some nosebleeds initially over $250 and VIP ringside soaring into five figures before WWE quietly slashed many prices closer to showtime.
SHOCK RETURNS, VIRAL SPLASHES & A “RETIREMENT” TEASE
- The women’s division got its own feel-good backstage headline: Paige returned to WWE at WrestleMania 42 Saturday, stepping in after Nikki Bella’s ankle injury ruled her out of action. Paige teamed with Brie Bella to win the WWE Women’s Tag Team Titles, ending a years-long exile from in-ring competition.
- Old rivalries resurfaced in the halls too: AJ Lee wrestled Becky Lynch on Saturday, then was spotted backstage reconnecting with Paige and the Bella Twins, a reunion fans had once thought impossible given her rocky 2015 exit from WWE.
- On the celebrity side, streamer IShowSpeed turned his WrestleMania debut into viral gold. Teaming with Logan Paul and Austin Theory in a six-man tag, he later flew from the top rope with a wild splash that sent Paul crashing through the announce table – clips racked up millions of views within days.
- Night 2 gave Saturday’s action a longer shadow: Brock Lesnar’s brutal loss to Oba Femi led to “The Beast” leaving his boots and gloves in the ring and embracing Paul Heyman, a tradition signaling retirement. Fans and media treated it as his emotional goodbye… until he resurfaced a month later in a rematch, turning that WrestleMania moment into one giant emotional swerve.
WrestleMania 42 – Saturday may have been packaged as a glossy sports-entertainment blockbuster, but behind the camera it was pure tabloid catnip: canceled cities, collapsing main events, controversial celebrities, and just enough fairy-tale returns to keep the whole spectacle from tipping completely into chaos.
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as unverified unless a cited source confirms it.
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