Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes appeared on this week's The Pat McAfee Show to hype up his tag team match on tonight's SmackDown. The American Nightmare will join forces with Randy Orton to battle The Vision's Bron Breakker and Bronson Reed.
Rhodes and Orton's history extends back to their time in the Legacy faction in the late 2000s. While WWE has been teasing The Viper turning on his old friend for the better part of a year, there's a great deal of excitement to see them fight side-by-side again.
Addressing that, Rhodes made a surprising admission about his tag team partner. "It’s Randy Orton, somebody who was a mentor to me in the game. And—no spoiler—Randy is...we don’t know how much longer Randy is going to be doing this."
"I don’t want that to creep up on me if we didn’t get one more good old-fashioned Mega Powers-style tag with the guy who is partially responsible for me ever getting anywhere in WWE," he added, referencing Hulk Hogan and "Macho Man" Randy Savage's partnership.
Much has been said about the current state of WWE, especially with WrestleMania heading to Saudi Arabia in 2027. It no longer feels like Triple H can do no wrong in the eyes of fans, and as ticket sales continue to rise, fans are growing increasingly unhappy.
"With ESPN and where the industry is at, pro wrestling in general, it’s only onwards and upwards, which is new, because you have these peaks and valleys throughout wrestling history," Rhodes argued. "I’ve always loved it, but look at the Attitude Era. If you really look back at it, it’s actually a shorter time than we remember."
"The Golden Age of the 1980s, Macho and all that, it’s a shorter time than we remember. We’ve been cruising now four or five years, Dallas Mania, even the year prior to that, it’s been onwards, upwards," he continued. "A lot of that has to do with Nick Khan coming on board with WWE. He’s a super genius. And so much of it has to do with the best roster."
"As long as this roster stays healthy, stays happy, stays cooking, it’s onwards and upwards. And I think the heights for sports entertainment and pro wrestling, we’ve never seen anything like this before. The fact that other people think it’s cool now too, makes my day," Rhodes concluded.
You can watch the full interview with the Undisputed WWE Champion in the player below.