Randy Orton calls Cody Rhodes 'The American Daydream' in SmackDown duel

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Here’s a new name that might actually stick. Cody Rhodes has been teetering on the brink of a heel turn for some time now, including outright saying he can be more of a bad guy in his pursuit of vanquishing Randy Orton. The two have been at each other’s throats, doing a lot more fighting than they have talking. Well, that changed on Friday Night SmackDown in Toronto this week when SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis told them both if they touch each other before their match at Sunday Night’s Main Event they’ll never get to challenge for the WWE championship ever again. That title means everything to the both of them, so they immediately agreed to the ceasefire. That’s when they started dropping verbal bombs. .@CodyRhodes is NOT holding back 😳 pic.twitter.com/4RNqaPeThq — WWE (@WWE) August 22, 2026 Notably, Orton told Rhodes he’s not a bad guy at all — he’s the ultimate good guy. He is not “The American Nightmare” as he likes to call himself but rather “The American Daydream.” He’s the golden boy. Rhodes fired back to say he’s learned from his friends and family, yes, but he’s also learned from his enemies, like Orton. And then he dropped a line we’ve heard from a familiar voice many times before, an old friend of his, after he said QB1 will be the one to kill the legend killer. “That is not a prediction, it’s a spoiler.” We’ll see what that means, if anything, soon enough. Get complete SmackDown results and coverage of this week’s entire episode by clicking here.