Cody Rhodes has given his thoughts on WWE fans cheering Randy Orton despite his vicious assault of the American Nightmare.
Since securing an Undisputed WWE Championship match against Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 42, Randy Orton has reawakened a mean streak fans haven’t seen in years. On the March 13th edition of SmackDown, The Viper turned on Rhodes, slamming him into tables, attacking him with steel steps, and finally laying him out with a chair. Despite the violent attack, fans cheered Orton and chanted his name as he posed with the title belt.
When Rhodes returned on March 27th to get even with Orton, fans still chose the veteran over the current champion, and the night closed with ‘Randy’ chants even though he also attacked Jelly Roll.
Speaking on Busted Open Radio, Cody Rhodes addressed the reaction, saying he doesn’t take it personally.
“I don’t take it personally. I think maybe when I was younger I did. And certainly there’s no absolute in that, I’m sure some things kind of slip through the armor a bit and you feel it.
“But my thought in terms of fans, today, more than ever, is that we are out there and whatever their emotional need is, if they need to cheer for you, if they need to cheer for him, if they need to yell at you — I can’t put a governor on that, and I will not. Tully Blanchard rules in terms of for me when he’d say, ‘The loudest, the longest [reaction].’”
Rhodes says there’s “no wrong way” for fans to behave, but admits it could get to him if it continues.
“I can’t be angry at them, whatever it is they need. If they’re cheering for Randy as he seeks [World title reign number] 15 even with the things he did, okay. I’m not there to try and tell you you’re wrong or right. There’s no wrong way to be a fan. So right now it hasn’t got to me. I’ll be honest, sometimes maybe it will. But right now? No.”
Cody Rhodes Vs. Randy Orton Was Not Originally Planned For WrestleMania
It was recently reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that the title match between Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes was set for later in 2026. However, after Bronson Reed suffered torn biceps, there was a domino effect that led to changes to the WrestleMania card, with Rhodes vs. Orton being brought forward, while Drew McIntyre was positioned for a singles match against Jacob Fatu
H/T to F4WOnline for the above transcription.
