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Cody Rhodes On WWE Star: “I Don’t Like Him One Bit”

By Ankit Singh • Published Apr 01, 2026 10:48 EDT

Cody Rhodes WWE — Cody Rhodes on WWE SmackDown - Source: Twitter/@WWE

Cody Rhodes didn’t hold back in expressing his hatred for a former world champion.

The American Nightmare’s goody two-shoes image is slowly wearing off as he is often seen breaking into angry outbursts. Aside from knocking out security officials to attack his opponents, Rhodes has also become more open to exposing other WWE stars in the locker room and how he feels about them.

Cody Rhodes Says He Despises a Longtime WWE Friend

The three-time Undisputed Champion was invited to the Busted Open podcast, where he was questioned about his upcoming WrestleMania 42 match. The American Nightmare will be defending his title against the 2026 Elimination Chamber winner, Randy Orton.

Speaking about The Viper, Cody Rhodes admitted that he doesn’t like the recently turned superstar at all. Despite this sheer dislike, however, QB1 did acknowledge that he had learned a lot from The Apex Predator, but he was going to use all that knowledge to crush him at WM42.

I wouldn’t feel how I feel. This isn’t a guy coming up to you on the street kicking you in the nuts, splitting you open and leaving you for dead. This isn’t that it’s not a stranger, so I don’t know how else to answer that. But how else could I like? How could I not? And here’s why. What it’s going to take to beat Randy Orton at WrestleMania is things that Randy Orton taught me. So, how can you not love that? Maybe I don’t like him one bit. Maybe I never want to have another encounter or share a locker room or ride down the road with each other ever again, but I definitely have a place in my heart for the things he did for me and for preparing me for this stage,” Rhodes said.

Elsewhere in the interview, Cody Rhodes had also said that he wants to face Randy Orton one final time at WrestleMania 42, following which, he doesn’t wish to compete against him again. It would be interesting to see if he will be able to retain his title and make his wish a reality, or if he will get dethroned and will be forced to seek a rematch against Orton.