With WWE finally making the right decision in the feud between Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton, hopefully their Crown Jewel 2026 sees the end of their rivalry.
With an announcement on tonight’s WWE SmackDown (October 23) confirming a Last Man Standing match at WWE Crown Jewel 2026 between Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton – their current rivalry could be wrapping up.
Randy Orton should move on
From a purely character motivation standpoint, Randy Orton should move on from his rivalry with Cody Rhodes.
While Sami Zayn vulnerable as ever with the Undisputed WWE Championship, Orton has remained distracted by his on-going drama with Cody rather than turning towards targeting Zayn.
With Orton needing to focus on capturing his history making 15th WWE Championship victory, if Rhodes isn’t champ then Orton needs to move along .
Another layer of paint
While some rally for a full heel turn from Cody Rhodes, it seems unlikely to happen. However, much like The Undertaker rebooted for a spell as The American Badass – there’s no reason Cody couldn’t do the same.
With Cody Rhodes already noting that sometimes a WWE star returning with a new attitude or new darker hairstyle doesn’t inherently mean a heel turn – rather “another layer of paint”, perhaps he’s already predicted his future.
Possibly taking a spell away from WWE only to return with a different ‘layer of paint’ to the American Nightmare, it might be that either a devastating loss at the hands of Orton or a win by means of a violent break in character, a new iteration of Rhodes could emerge soon.
Last Man Standing
With a Last Man Standing bout set for WWE Crown Jewel 2026, there could be the perfect opportunity to showcase some intriguing violence.
Able to take the match to a new level of brutality, there could be some fascinating spots if the event goes forward as planned in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Historically, events in Saudi Arabia haven’t featured battles in the crowd but there was definitely some notable ramp spots between Bianca Belair and Bayley at Crown Jewel 2022 – so perhaps Orton and Rhodes will resurrect some golf cart hijinks.
Moving forward
With a fascinating field of challengers on SmackDown for Sami Zayn’s Undisputed WWE Championship, Orton has a field to contend with.
While Kevin Owens continues to be in the hunt, there are also threats looming from the likes of Trick Williams and even Johnny Gargano – leading Zayn to being without many allies.
Able to serve as a perfect foe for Randy Orton, it would be amazing to see Orton topple Zayn only to move on to have further battles against the likes of Kevin Owens, CM Punk and of course coming back around again in the future with Cody Rhodes.
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