Orton had been on the phone to a mystery person since turning heel on Rhodes that encouraged him to listen to the voices in his head.

McAfee turned up in the opening segment of SmackDown to help beat down Rhodes and reveal it was he that has been counselling Orton, claiming he is going to help The Viper restore WWE to the glory days.

Later on in the show, Rhodes tweeted he would like to go out to the ring and respond before doing just that. We’ve now learned that the original run down of the show did not feature a Rhodes rebuttal and the WWE champion was told to do this on the fly.

BodySlam+ added that Rhodes was instructed to go to the ring later that evening and “shoot from the hip”.

They added that the reports they were given noted that Rhodes and members of WWE’s creative team have “legitimate gripes” with TKO for “sticking their nose in storylines close to WrestleMania” multiple years in a row.

Ari Emanuel, the CEO and Executive Chairman of TKO, thinks inviting and incorporating mainstream celebrities into the current WrestleMania 42 build up will lead to last minute ticket purchases.

The ‘internet wrestling fans’ did not take the McAfee reveal well, but a lot of the frustration comes from the lacklustre overall booking.

Orton and Rhodes is a story decades in the making since they were in Legacy in and around 2009.

Orton has reverted back to the unhinged killer he was around that time period when Rhodes was helping him with his bidding. He knows more than anyone else what he is capable of, surely a story based of that history was an easy layup for WWE.

When The Rock arrived at the end of 1996, Shawn Michaels was a huge star in the company.

HBK had won his first world title at WrestleMania earlier than year and was a firm main event guy.

He would walk away from wrestling due to a serious injury after WrestleMania in 1998, dropping giving Stone Cold Steve Austin – one of The Rock’s greatest rivals – his first world title on his way out.

The Rock had a spell as a babyface Intercontinental champion and then really found his feet as part of the Nation of Domination, but he was not a main eventer by the time Michaels walked away.

Still, they never even had as singles match in WWE. There was plenty of rumours that Michaels and Triple H tried to make life very difficult for Rock during his first few years in the company.

The Rock’s late father, Rocky Johnson, even stated in an interview he threatened to beat Michaels up to his face as a result.

Speaking to 7pm in Brooklyn with Carmelo Anthony, Michaels opened up on why he never shared the ring with The Great One.

“He didn’t like me. There’s a big kerfuffle in the wrestling business about me and Hunter [Triple H] doing stuff to him and being mean and things like that. All of it is way blown out of proportion—none of it even accurate. Some of the things from when he was younger got fed a lot.

“But again, later on, and even to this day, we get along and we talk about stuff.

“That’s one I think everybody would have liked to have seen.

“But by the time I came back, he was already well into his Hollywood career and everything like that.

“So, look—even when it comes to me, I pick him because, again, what are you going to say? The guy came in, and I can remember seeing him on Saturday Night Live for the first time and just thinking, ‘Holy cow.’”

“I can’t remember the exact bit, but when he was with the other guy and doing that, and he could laugh at himself and everything else—you could see right there that this guy was going to be a huge star.”

They would’ve had a chance to work together when Michaels returned to WWE in 2002, but the man leading NXT is quite right; The Rock was becoming a part-time talent en route to his Hollywood departure.

The Rock worked predominantly on SmackDown while Michaels was RAW while they were both in WWE from late 2002 into the middle of 2003.

One The Rock had his last match at WrestleMania 20 in 2004, he wasn’t seen in the company again until he returned to host WrestleMania in 2011.

Michaels retired from pro wrestling at WrestleMania the year prior.

The only time the pair did really share the screen in WWE is when Michaels was briefly the Coperate Commisioner in 1999 when The Rock was the Coperate champion and later that year, he special guest refereed The Rock against Triple H on the first episode of SmackDown.

Although those rumours of bad blood persist, The Rock did say while inducting his father into the Hall of Fame that he wished he had faced three men: Rey Mysterio, John Cena and Shawn Michaels.

He ended up facing Cena twice at WrestleManias.

Now known as Mercedes Mone in AEW, the 34-year-old has been a banner act for Tony Khan’s company, known as a belt collector for all the titles she has amassed from other companies.

She has not been seen in AEW since Janaury 7 and although she only joined the company in 2024, it’s widely believed she only signed a three-year contract.

Would she return to WWE? She walked out of WWE alongside Naomi due to creative differences, but Naomi has since returned to the company and won the world title.

They left under the Vince McMahon regime, but now Triple H is the man in charge.

Charlotte Flair was recently asked who her Mount Rushmore of women’s wrestlers would be and she did not hesitate to pick the Four Horsewomen – herself, Bayley, Lynch and Banks.

When asked on the Cheap Heat podcast about Flair’s comments, Lynch whole heartedly agree.

“Honestly, I can’t disagree. That’s a great answer. We’re a great foursome. Never really aligned altogether, but we did great work. We’re still doing great work. We’re all doing great work.”

Host Pete Rosenberg asked: “Is there some more stuff that needs to be done between the women who were a part of that together?”

Lynch replied: “Well, we’re not all here, and, you know, the door is always open, I think, for Sasha. So I think that that is one of those things that you can always go back to at any time, and it’ll always be fantastic.”

Banks already has a rock solid Hall of Fame career if she retired tomorrow. One has to think she has new opponents to make money with in WWE when she’s ready to return, but she is also known to know her own value.

She is paid well by Khan and has a prominent spot with great influence over her stories in AEW. Would she ever get that in WWE?

Working for Triple H, the man who helped her breakthrough in NXT, is certainly a more appealing prospect than her time under McMahon.

But right now, AEW is trending upwards. Their ratings and live audience numbers are both moving in the right direction thanks to a solid spell of booking.

Almost instantly, SmackDown general manager Nick Aldis announced Zayn will defend the title against Trick Williams in Las Vegas.

Naturally, many fans on social media are not happy that Hayes appears to be on the outs having put in such great work with the title for the past 90 days.

Wrestling Intel understands from one source that the plan is for Hayes to be involved in the matchup at WrestleMania making it a triple-threat, but with how volatile WWE have been with their plans this ‘Mania season, you never know.

If Hayes was to be left out, it would be incredibly harsh on one of the company’s most consistent performers over the past year.

Williams is obviously surging in popularity and should be showcased in a fitting manner given his buzz, but Hayes should not be the odd man out.

Hayes and Williams do have history together in NXT which the company could lean on to fill out this story, but that backstory has not been explored while the pair have both been on the Blue Brand.

Zayn has been obsessed with becoming a WWE world champion for the first time in his career, but with that dream fading around WrestleMania, the Canadian moved his obsession to being on the card in Las Vegas at all.

It’s possible that Zayn will be linked to the fallout of the Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton feud in the long run and finally arrive at that world title, but right now he feels like the square peg in the round hole in this angle.

WWE should follow through with keeping Hayes involved and let both he and Williams get the benefit of working with Zayn on a major stage.

At 55-years-old, the ECW icon is well aware he is in the winter of his career, but would he like to have a billed retirement run or match like John Cena or AJ Styles did?

Not exactly, but he wouldn’t be against performing in a WWE ring once again.

Speaking to TMZ, RVD said: “I am open to consider anything.

“That’s part of being open-minded – you know, I try not to shut anything out without at least considering it.

“And when it comes to something like that, they’ve got my number. They can talk to me. As you know, I’ll be appearing at WWE World. We talked about that – 4/20, remember?

“We can definitely have that conversation. As far as a retirement tour, though – unless I change my perspective, which always happens, because you’re always looking at things from a different place in life if you keep going – the way I feel now is I don’t like the idea of labeling something as a retirement.

“I don’t really want to know if I’m having my last match when I am.”

RVD finally won the WWE title in 2006. He was also the ECW champion at the time, but double champ status did not last long after he was arrested for being in possession of marijuana.

The company suspended Van Dam and had him drop his titles. Sadly, he would never win world title gold again in WWE.

But since 2001, RVD has had a handful of runs with the company and has remained a fan favourite throughout.

He also entered the WWE Hall of Fame in 2001.

Could he be another name to add to Gunther’s list?

Whether that means the 48-year-old will retire during this run or he will go away again and make another comeback down the road remains to be seen.

Lesnar had an extended break from WWE amid backlash after his name cropped up in Janel Grant’s lawsuit against Vince McMahon.

While internet wrestling fans were angry with Lesnar’s return, the live audience appears to have accepted his part in WWE.

But the former my well get what they want in the end as Lesnar suggests he’s not going to be around long.

“I’m the old guy now, you know. Sh*t, I went back to work too so I could feed my kids. You guys should see my grocery bill,” Lesnar told Spittin’ Chiclets.

“I had left the company years ago and I’m grateful that I’m back for a short time here. So I’m really grateful for all the opportunities that I’ve had in my life.”

Lesnar is facing Oba Femi at WrestleMania 42 next month in Las Vegas.

If Lesnar is looking at the end of his career, a long-anticipated showdown with Gunther, the now Career Killer, would be a fitting way to go too.

However, Lesnar has been known to come and go from WWE pretty much as he pleases down the years, so it’s difficult to know how long he has left. Presumably, he enjoys his fat paydays at his lesuire.

During an interview with Spittin Chiclets, Lesnar revealed that he was honoured to be picked to break Undertaker’s iconic streak, but he also felt bad.

“It obviously wasn’t my call to make. I mean, at the time, Vince McMahon, you know [thought] if there was a person that could beat ‘Take and the Streak away with a legitimate background people could believe, I guess it was me,” Lesnar said.

“There’s a lot of people that are pi**ed that it’s me, but it’s not my call. My hats off to Undertaker, Mark, he’s a great guy and this, is at the end, guys, it’s just a business and it’s a give-and-take, and it was time for ‘Taker to give and it was a time for Brock Lesnar to take.”

The Undertaker, a 30-year legend with WWE, was 21-0 at their marquee event before Lesnar defeated him at WrestleMania 30 in New Orleans.

The Deadman would finish his career 25-2 at WWE’s showpiece event with Roman Reigns the only other superstar to get a victory over him at WrestleMania three years later.

During his battle with Lesnar, ‘Taker suffered a nasty concussion that would have him collapse backstage and rushed to hospital causing Vince McMahon himself to leave mid-show.

Lesnar isn’t sure what happened but says the pair did the best they could under the circumstances.

“I don’t know what happened during the match, but he was a mentor of mine. I worked with ‘Taker for many years and so now we’re out in this match and ‘Taker got hit left field day of, you know, he’s coming to his 20th WrestleMania thinking that he’s gonna win and then two hours before we go on, the rug gets pulled on him and so a lot of different emotions there,” said Lesnar.

“I was excited but I also felt bad too, like, I’m the guy and I get to be the guy and so we’re out in this match and next thing you know Taker’s not being Taker, and I’m like so I had to … you know it’s a dance out there and you just gotta do your best to get through it and we did.”

Lesnar is now set to face recent NXT call-up Oba Femi at WrestleMania 42 in Las Vegas.

He was considered to win the Royal Rumble at one point, but later rumours emerged that he would face off against a returning Seth Rollins.

After the Royal Rumble, it was revealed that Breakker needed surgery on a serious hernia and that threw his WrestleMania spot into doubt.

WWE is still hoping that Breakker could make his way back according to Wrestlevotes Radio on Fightful Select.

Their report states that at least one WWE source has expressed “optimism” regarding Breakker being cleared to compete before WrestleMania.

No update was provided on how Breakker’s rehab was going, but the company is preparing for the chance that he can appear.

Rollins made his return from injury at the Elimination Chamber and has immediately targeting his former group, The Vision.

The problem is, The Vision has suffered injury problems of their own since Rollins went down injured last October.

Not only has Breakker been sidelined, Bronson Reed has also suffered a bicep tear meaning the once dominant stable is looking a little light.

Logan Paul and Austin Theory appear on a collision course with The Usos for the Tag Team titles, so one would assume in lieu of a new member or a late Paul Heyman magic trick, WWE are still banking on Breakker appearing.

Gunther finds himself in a similar position waiting on Rey Mysterio. The Career Killer’s next stop was meant to be the legendary luchador, but some broken ribs have left his participation in WWE’s grandest event is hanging in the balance.

There is now under a month until WrestleMania 42 goes down in Las Vegas and that means only a few weeks of television left to cement their plans.

After the $9.3 billion deal, Endeavour would form TKO as a property to house both UFC and WWE.

A company called Base 10, backed by AEW owner Tony Khan, placed a bid. This information came to light from newly unredacted court filings tied to an ongoing shareholder lawsuit over WWE’s sale that were obtained by PostWrestling.com.

The filings confirm that multiple groups pursued WWE, including Endeavor, Liberty Media, KKR, and Base 10. While other bidders were previously reported, this is the first time Khan’s involvement has been made public.

The basis of the lawsuit comes from the other companies believing it was an unfair courting process as Vince McMahon always favoured Endeavor because its CEO, Ari Emanuel, supported McMahon staying with the company.

Ultimately, that didn’t work out for McMahon and he had to retire off the back of his sex trafficking allegations, but it is being argued it helped him pick Endeavour for the sale originally.

Technically, AEW and Base 10 are separate entities under the Khan family’s portfolio. AEW boss Khan declined to comment on the matter.

While it’s remarkable that Khan made a play for WWE, it is worth noting that his company’s offer was the lowest by a wide margin.

They offered $76.83 per share. KKR submitted a bid ranging from $90 to $97.50, while Liberty offered between $95 and $100 which were both structured as cash deals for WWE shareholders.

Endeavor’s winning bid was an all-stock transaction valued at $95.66 per share.

What the IWC – internet wrestling community – perpetuates isn’t always reflective of what the wider wrestling fanbase, or fans that attend the shows think. That’s easy to forget for the chronically online. But fans growing tiresome of Rhodes‘ good guy act and constant association to the title are appearing widespread.

Sometimes, the online fanbase it is a good window into the way the wind is blowing. Some might argue that Tony Khan picks up his proverbial nine iron and judges the wind a little too much via the internet, but few could argue which promoter has their finger on the pulse better right now.

If AEW Revolution taught us anything it’s that the company has steadily built around it’s top player in MJF and they’ve amassed a superb variety of secondary options. The returns of Edge and Christian, the surprise of Ronda Rousey’s arrival, the return of Will Ospreay from injury – and that’s all on one show. But that takes planning. That takes foresight.

Triple H has injected new life into WWE, sure. In the same way that a new bottle of Coke beats one that has been open a while and has gone flat; HHH would have had to try hard to any worse than the dying embers of Vince McMahon’s time at the top.

WWE was sleepwalking on a weekly basis under McMahon. They had some big isolated moments, but until the Bloodline story came along, nothing that generated a buzz or pushed the business forward in years.

That led to sell-out shows, record revenues and the biggest TV deals in the company’s history. Triple H enjoys a lot of the credit for that, but the ball got rolling under McMahon, even if it was pretty forced from Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman.

Flipping Reigns and going all in on that story was overdue to some, but it was the right kind of turn. The Tribal Chief was the right character. It wasn’t a case of Reigns becoming a bad guy, but that character.

And that brings us to Cody Rhodes. The WWE fanbase does seem to be getting tired of top-tier babyface Cody and in his defence, that’s more indicative of the world today than him. The days of saying your prayers and eating your vitamins are long gone. Being the hero that overcomes all doesn’t inspire fans when done repeatedly, it annoys them.

Look at Cena’s heel turn. That was a move that was over a decade too late in some eyes and even with that in mind, WWE’s original execution was almost perfect. But what transpired after it and the clear lack of thought put into how Cena would operate on the dark side quickly made it hollow. Especially considering how much people wanted it to happen.

Now, Rhodes finds himself up against it once again. This time, he is facing the reborn Randy Orton, a reincarnated relic of 2009 that WWE fans can’t help but love. Just a maniacal bad guy that will go to lengths no other star will and that is box office stuff.

Is that the best foil for Rhodes? A man who drifts between rapturous receptions and being booed out of the building for close to a year? It’s hard to see the fans rooting for Rhodes to overcome Orton in his pursuit for his 15th world title and first in over five years.

Perhaps that’s what WWE intend to lean into – and they should. The boos will likely grow louder. Orton should defeat Rhodes at WrestleMania and The American Nightmare’s descent to the darkside, for the first time since returning to WWE in 2022, could truly begin.

The last thing that should happen is Rhodes overcomes the bad guy once again. He has done so against Brock Lesnar, Seth Rollins, John Cena and Roman Reigns; what more could he do after Orton? Outside of a heel CM Punk run, the apex will have been reached.

WWE has stars like Dom Mysterio, Oba Femi, Trick Williams and Bron Breakker just waiting for the chance to be positioned as a top face, a real main event talent, and run with it. And not even in the traditional sense of being the good guy and getting the win – just being over. Just being popular.

WWE needs to take a chance by changing Rhodes and if they don’t, it’s quite indicative of how Triple H’s booking has become. Surprises for surprises sake during WrestleMania season just to throw people off the scent is a glass half-full kind of equation if you like to be kept on your toes, but that often unravels in unflattering ways in the long term and leaves many scratching their heads.

As John Cena might say, the time is now for Cody. He must evolve to help WWE do the same.