Cody Rhodes appeared on Friday’s WWE SmackDown sporting the eye injury sustained during his WrestleMania 42 main event against Randy Orton and used his promo time to deliver a pointed message to the forces outside the ring that have repeatedly interceded in his championship plans. The speech was one of the most direct pieces of blurred-reality television Rhodes has delivered in his current WWE run.
Rhodes talked about how he is still standing after Orton’s punt kick — framing his ability to get back up as his defining superpower — before pivoting to his core message. He addressed “the outside forces that keep interceding and interjecting into my WrestleMania plans,” noted they are 0-3 across the last three WrestleManias, and closed with a line that immediately resonated across the wrestling community. “Send your best or count your money and mind your damn business.”
Cody Rhodes Has Now Survived Three Consecutive WrestleMania Challenges From Outside TKO Interference
The 0-3 reference covers a trilogy of outside involvement in Rhodes’ biggest matches. At WrestleMania 40, The Rock was directly involved in the Bloodline story that led to Rhodes finally finishing his story. At WrestleMania 41, The Rock’s involvement in John Cena’s heel turn ultimately led to Rhodes losing the title — though he regained it at SummerSlam. This year, Pat McAfee’s insertion into the Orton program came at TKO’s direction per reports. Rhodes retaining the Undisputed WWE Championship despite all three interventions gives his “outside forces” promo genuine statistical backing.