News

Randy Orton Has The Last Laugh At WWE WrestleMania 42 Despite Losing To Cody Rhodes

By Faiz Ahmed • Published Apr 18, 2026 22:05 EDT
Randy Orton WWE
Randy Orton – SmackDown, March 20, 2026 - Source: WWE.com

Night One of WrestleMania 42 concluded with a huge main event, which saw Cody Rhodes put his Undisputed WWE Championship on the line against his former mentor, Randy Orton.

Orton was accompanied by Pat McAfee for the match, and he even announced him as the challenger. Pat tried to help Randy by attacking Cody with the microphone before the match began, but that move backfired.

Pat and Orton only got a momentary advantage following that attack as Cody Rhodes took Pat out with Jelly Roll’s help. The Grammy award-winning artist put himself through the announce table, leading to him being stretchered out of the arena.

Rhodes used the momentum to his advantage and was in control of much of the early proceedings of the match. He targeted Orton’s lower back throughout, making things a little difficult for the Viper.

The Viper got back into the match after hitting a Superplex on Rhodes, but couldn’t remain in control for long. The American Nightmare sent him head-first into the ring post and busted him open.

Randy Orton stands tall to end Night One of WWE WrestleMania 42

He continued his assault on Orton’s bloodied forehead with punches to the head and followed it up with a Spike DDT of his own to his former mentor. He mocked Randy and looked to hit an RKO on him, but Orton moved out of his way to hit a CrossRhodes on him.

Orton tried to follow that up with an RKO, but Cody reversed it into a surprise pin and then hit an RKO of his own on Randy. This allowed Rhodes to come back into the match, and he continued his assault on the Apex Predator.

They exchanged blows with each other, causing Cody to be bloodied as well. Rhodes caught Randy in the eye, and in the confusion, the Viper RKO’ed the referee. With the referee knocked out, Rhodes blocked a low blow from Randy and delivered one of his own.

He was about to follow up with a Cody Cutter, but Orton reversed it into an RKO. As Randy went for a pin, Pat McAfee came out as a referee, but Rhodes kicked out in time.

Randy then shocked everyone by hitting an RKO on Pat McAfee, but Cody took advantage of the situation and hit a CrossRhodes on Randy Orton to retain the Undisputed WWE Championship.

As Rhodes celebrated his win with the title in his hand, Randy grabbed the belt and attacked Cody with it. He followed it up with a Punt to his former protege and ended the night standing tall with the WWE title in his hand.

Make TJR Wrestling your choice for news by clicking here.