Cody Rhodes is set to make his WWE return on next week’s Smackdown, the company has confirmed. Cody sold Randy Orton’s attack on this week’s Smackdown and missed the complete show.
Orton turned heel on last week’s Smackdown and attacked his former tag team partner. Orton is set to challenge Cody for the Undisputed WWE Championship in the main event of night 1 of . Since both the superstars were ‘good guys’, WWE had to make one of them a heel superstar. Orton has enjoyed huge success in the negative role and he attacked the American Nightmare.
Orton is chasing his 15th world championship. A 14-time world champion, Orton hasn’t won a world title since 2020. He challenged John Cena for the world championship at Backlash during Cena’s farewell tour.
Orton, who lost to Cody in the final of the King of the Ring, finally earned another title opportunity by winning the Elimination Chamber 2026. He was earlier scheduled to challenge Drew McIntyre.
Cody defeated McIntyre for the title on Smackdown after the Elimination Chamber, forcing the WWE to change the main event match. McIntyre is involved in a storyline with Jacob Fatu and they look set to square off at the biggest show of the year.
Cody hasn’t won a world title at Wrestlemania since 2017. He won the WWE Championship by defeating Bray Wyatt at Wrestlemania 33. Orton winning his 15th world championship on the grand stage of Wrestlemania would be a memorable moment for him and his fans. He made his WWE debut in 2022.
Night 2 main event
While the Cody-Orton match will close the night 1, CM Punk will defend his World Heavyweight Championship against Roman Reigns on night 2. Reigns won the Royal Rumble match to earn the title opportunity. Orton was also part of the Rumble, but couldn’t win it.
Punk has been retaining his title since November 2025. He won the vacated championship with a win over Jey Uso at Saturday Night’s Main Event. , the former WHC, was forced to vacate the title due to an injury he suffered at the Crown Jewel, which took place in Australia.