WWE finally is giving us Randy Orton against Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania for the WWE championship. Now, it has to give us one more thing for this chaotic booking to be worth it.
Orton needs to beat Rhodes for his 15th world title — two away from tying John Cena — on April 18, Night 1 of WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium.
This was the least ideal way to get to one of the best stories WWE has to give fans, as their history dates back to 2007. That includes Orton recently eyeing up the belt every time he is around Rhodes and losing to him in the King of the Ring final at Night of Champions last year.
A multi-man match would have made a ton of sense to tie months of storytelling together and leave Drew McIntyre as champion. But Triple H has generally not booked too many multi-team or multi-person matches. Last year’s WrestleMania had two triple-threats; that’s it. McIntyre vs. Orton is far less sexy — especially with WrestleMania ticket sales lagging behind last year’s — and we saw them feud in 2020 and 2025.
