Cody Rhodes: There’s ‘a lot of sincerity’ to WWE WrestleMania 42 main events
Cody Rhodes sees a common theme among the two WWE WrestleMania main events this year.
Taking place this weekend, WrestleMania 42 will be headlined by Rhodes vs. Randy Orton and CM Punk vs. Roman Reigns. Both bouts have been built around long-standing personal issues. With that — and the recent addition of Pat McAfee to the Rhodes vs. Orton rivalry — Rhodes believes that it’s easy for viewers to suspend their disbelief and buy into what they’re seeing on screen.
“When wrestling is done right, the best thing ever is when you can just have a little bit of doubt on, ‘Oh, seems like those guys do hate each other.’ And we have a lot of that in both main events this year,” Rhodes said on Matt and Shane’s Secret Podcast. “There’s a lot of sincerity to the suspension of disbelief.”
The history between Rhodes and Orton dates back nearly 20 years to when they were members of The Legacy together. Given that, a lot of fans have been disappointed about McAfee’s involvement, feeling that it’s unnecessary to the story. Rhodes leaned into that sentiment on Matt and Shane’s Secret Podcast, comparing McAfee’s inclusion to the popular meme where a clown is trying to blend in among a group of soldiers.
“Randy Orton, who I’m wrestling at WrestleMania, we have almost two decades of history. He was my mentor,” Rhodes said. “We were on screen together as part of his group Legacy. He had my dad’s last match. My first match in the company was against Randy. There is a lot of rich story material.
“And then we inserted Pat McAfee. We are literally in that part right there. So your question is everybody else’s question. You know the troops all outside and there is that clown? I’m not saying he’s the clown. It’s just an interesting fit. And we’re going to see where it goes.”
Rhodes did say that he believes McAfee is a serious person and not a clown. He just wishes the people around McAfee would say “no” to him more often — including telling him that it’s a bad idea to get involved in the main event of WrestleMania.
McAfee will be in Orton’s corner when Orton challenges Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship this Saturday. If Orton loses, McAfee has promised to leave the wrestling industry forever.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.