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Cody Rhodes Comments On Potential WWE Championship Match With Randy Orton

Rhodes addressed facing "The Viper" at Backlash, should he get past John Cena.
Jon Alba|
Cody Rhodes has been WWE Champion for more than a year.
Cody Rhodes has been WWE Champion for more than a year. | WWE.com

Cody Rhodes has taken over the mantle as the face of WWE, and will have a career-defining match with 16-time world champion John Cena at WrestleMania 41 this weekend for the Undisputed WWE championship.

It's been a long road for the "American Nightmare" to this point, going from tag wrestler, to rising star, to the indies, to starting AEW, back to the main event in WWE. Along the way, he's encountered various future and current Hall of Famers.

Rhodes did a special pre-WrestleMania Q&A that The Takedown on SI's Rick Ucchino was in attendance for in Las Vegas on Friday. There, Rhodes made a declaration about who his eyes are set on next should he get past Cena Sunday night.

"I don't want to look past WrestleMania 41. But there's a situation where, here's one of my legit true-life mentors in John Cena. And then on the other side of the coin, one of my true-to-life real mentors is Randy Orton," Rhodes said.

"Again, can't look past John Cena, but if we're leaving Sunday with the championship title like the north star of our business, like I expect we should be leaving, I would love to wrestle Randy Orton at Backlash."

MORE: Big E Just Confirmed A Major Superstar's Return At WWE WrestleMania Week Event

Orton and Rhodes share quite a bit of WWE history, of course. Orton was the stable leader of Legacy, consisting of Orton, Rhodes, and Ted DiBiase Jr. The three had a triple-threat match at WrestleMania XXVI, a bout which Orton won.

WWE Backlash is scheduled for Sat., May 10 in St. Louis, Orton's hometown. It is still unclear whether or not Orton will have a match at WrestleMania, as his original scheduled match against Kevin Owens was canceled due to Owens needing neck surgery.

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Jon Alba
JON ALBA

Jon Alba is an Emmy Award and SPJ Award-winning journalist who has broken some of pro wrestling's biggest stories. In addition to writing for The Takedown on SI, he is the host of "The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy" podcast, and a host and contributor for Sportsnet New York. Additionally, he has been on beats for teams across MLB, the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLS during more than a decade in the sports media sphere. Jon is a graduate of Quinnipiac University with a B.A. degree in Journalism.

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