Randy Orton is making a pretty bold claim about his WrestleMania showdown with Cody Rhodes — and if he’s telling the truth, Cody could be in serious trouble at WWE Crown Jewel.
During the Crown Jewel Countdown interview, Orton addressed his upcoming Last Man Standing match against Rhodes and suggested that he deliberately held back during their WrestleMania encounter. Despite delivering a devastating punt kick to Cody’s head, Orton now claims he might not have given the attack everything he had.
Jackie Redmond pointed out that Rhodes managed to survive the punt kick at WrestleMania and asked Orton what it would take to keep him down this time. Orton initially had a simple response.
“Jackie, I think I just gotta kick him harder.”
But Orton wasn’t finished. The former WWE Champion went a step further, suggesting that his personal relationship with Rhodes may have prevented him from unleashing his full aggression at WrestleMania. According to Orton, that hesitation won’t be happening at Crown Jewel.
“Jackie, maybe at WrestleMania, I didn’t wanna go to that dark place. Maybe I didn’t wanna even do the punt to Cody. Maybe I held a little something back, so at Crown Jewel, I’m gonna let him have 100% of my foot right in his face. Jackie, I don’t know that Cody will ever come back after this.”
The claim is particularly interesting considering Orton’s history with Rhodes. The two were once part of Legacy, with Orton serving as a mentor to the younger star. During the same interview, Orton insisted that Cody would always be like a younger brother to him and questioned whether Rhodes had it in him to deliver a similar attack against his former mentor.
Orton also made it clear that his ultimate goal goes beyond defeating Rhodes. He’s determined to become a 15-time world champion and believes taking Cody out at Crown Jewel will move him closer to that achievement.
Whether Orton actually held back at WrestleMania or is simply trying to get inside Cody’s head remains to be seen. But with a Last Man Standing match approaching, Orton is making it clear that he has no intention of showing Rhodes the same restraint he claims to have shown before.
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