WWE
WWE Sunday Night’s Main Event Tips: Cody Rhodes vs Randy Orton
Two decades of history boils over in Atlanta this weekend as Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton finally settle their score at WWE’s inaugural Sunday Night’s Main Event. William Hill News are on hand with everything you need to know ahead of the clash.
State Farm Arena hosts the grudge match on Sunday, September 6, with Rhodes fighting in his own billed hometown against a rival who has spent the summer making his life a misery.
The Market
The Story So Far
This one has been simmering since WrestleMania 42, where Rhodes retained the Undisputed WWE Championship over Orton in a match soured by the Pat McAfee sideshow. Orton didn’t take the defeat well, laying Rhodes out with a title belt shot and a Punt Kick before disappearing from WWE screens entirely.
He picked the perfect moment to resurface. At SummerSlam, with Rhodes seconds from reclaiming the title from CM Punk, Orton emerged from nowhere to RKO “The American Nightmare” and hand Punk the win. The Viper followed up by attacking Rhodes again on SmackDown, sparking a brawl that ran through the arena and forced GM Nick Aldis to make the singles match official – with a warning to both men that any further contact before Atlanta voids their next WWE Championship opportunity entirely.
The Case For Orton
The Viper has form for stealing wins in matches he isn’t supposed to win, and there’s a reading of this feud where WWE lets Orton finally get one over on Rhodes to set up a bigger rematch down the line – Aldis has already floated Money in the Bank or Crown Jewel as the next chapter if this one ends in chaos rather than a clean finish.
The case for Rhodes
Rhodes has already beaten Orton clean when it mattered most, taking the win at WrestleMania 42 Night One with the title on the line, and he did it again in last year’s King of the Ring final. That head-to-head record matters, and so does the setting — State Farm Arena sits in Rhodes’ own backyard, and WWE rarely resists sending a hometown guy over in a moment built this explicitly around revenge.
Orton’s return has been built entirely on cheap shots and RKOs out of nowhere rather than a clean pinfall, which suggests WWE sees him as a nuisance to be dealt with rather than a threat to actually dethrone Rhodes here.
Prediction
Expect Orton to get the job done in Atlanta, but not without a scare. Given the interference-heavy history between these two, a finish involving a run-in or a near-miss RKO feels nailed on before Orton puts the fight to bed.
Our Prediction: Randy Orton To Win – 1/6
