Cody Rhodes wins match against Randy Orton at Crown Jewel

"

Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton have been embroiled in a feud for some time now that has centered entirely around whether or not the former would have it in him to channel the latter. For much of the feud, it seemed WWE was building to a possible heel turn for one of its top babyfaces, and perhaps a double turn was planned. After all, the big climax of the story was going to be Rhodes deciding to finally punt Orton in the head. Doing so, you would think, would mean sacrificing himself. It does not appear to be the direction they are going. Rhodes did indeed punt Orton in the head to win their match at Crown Jewel, even stopping the referee from counting him down so he could do it. That’s a dastardly thing to do. Despite this, it’s being treated less like Cody went to the dark side and more like he simply did what he needed to do and wants to move on from it. He’s even campaigning to be the captain of Team USA against Team Mexico at Survivor Series! Plenty of folks seems unhappy about this, not least of all the live audience in Riyadh who largely booed Rhodes throughout the match while cheering Orton. There’s a lot of support for him online in the wake of this match too. Stuff like this: The problem is that behind a good match, great storytelling, and a proper ending to the story, there's a disaster called "You wasted three years of Randy Orton's career." The Viper returned from a career-ending injury and repeatedly delivered top-level performances both in the… — Eren V. Ace (@eren_v_ace) November 8, 2026 Then you have Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez agreeing Orton shouldn’t be a heel right now: At this point in his career, Randy Orton should not be a heel.https://t.co/wkCsxWftwk pic.twitter.com/ohXxxpTSoT — Wrestling Observer (@WONF4W) November 8, 2026 Orton himself responded to an extremely positive message along these same lines like a true babyface would: Whether it’s sooner, or later, I’ll be back. Guaranteed. WWE is my home away from home. I still have more to do, and until I am unable, I will continue to keep doing it. https://t.co/XheHyj1quT — Randy Orton (@RandyOrton) November 8, 2026 Orton is 46-years-old and much closer to the end than the beginning. Why bother using him to put Rhodes over like this? It doesn’t do him any good, the fans don’t want it, and Cody doesn’t need it unless he’s going heel, and it seems clear now that’s no longer the plan if it ever was. Anyone want to try to justify all this?