Cody Rhodes retained the Undisputed WWE Championship at WrestleMania on Saturday night, but left the Show of Shows with one heck of a shiner after taking a punt from his opponent, Randy Orton.
In reality, the American Nightmare suffered that blow to the eye when Orton punched him during the match’s closing moments. There have since been rumblings on social media about the injury to his orbital bone being bad enough that he may end up on the injured list.
Rhodes was put into concussion protocol after the match and had to cancel his WWE World appearance on Sunday. However, he did briefly show up during last night’s RAW, where the stage was set for him to face CM Punk in the near future.
According to Bodyslam.net, WWE is moving forward with the idea that Rhodes’ injury isn’t severe enough to require that he relinquish the Undisputed WWE Championship.
“Cody Rhodes is not expected to have to relinquish the Undisputed WWE Championship as of right now,” the site explains. “WWE will continue to monitor the health of Rhodes in the coming days ahead of SmackDown.”
Even if the plan is to keep the title on Rhodes, he may need some time off television to heal up (likely meaning he won’t be competing at Backlash on May 9). As of now, it seems World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns defending against Jacob Fatu will be the show’s main event.
Despite how Night 1 of WrestleMania ended, it’s not clear whether Rhodes and Orton’s rivalry is over. However, recent comments from Pat McAfee seem to suggest that he’s sticking by his promise to leave WWE after The Viper’s defeat.
“I finished my story. I came up in the indies IWA East Coast. I was a wrestler, trained by Rip Rogers. Trampoline wrestling, indie wrestling, undefeated. I went through developmental, NXT, commentated and wrestled down there. Get [to] WWE, commentated, lucky to do that. Did pre-shows, lucky to do that. Wrestled, lucky to do that. Reffed, lucky to do that. Managed, lucky to do that. It’s been a hell of a run, thank you wrestling.”
“It’s my fault, because as I was trying to motivate Randy all I wanted him to know was everything else was s**t and he was the king. And it turns out The American Nightmare has still got the throne. That guy’s the real deal brother. I won’t press any charges [for Cody Rhodes trashing his studio]. That whole thing’s done. All behind us. The wrestling business [is] kind of [in the] rear-view mirror. To the wrestling business I’d like to say: thank you.”
Stay tuned for updates as we have them.
What’s done is done..
Thank you to the wrestling business #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/LcSJjQh5j6
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) April 20, 2026
CM Punk is here. 👀@CMPunk | #RawAfterMania pic.twitter.com/6GHKOPHl2w
— WWE (@WWE) April 21, 2026
.@CMPunk was proud to carry the World Heavyweight Championship! 🙌#RawAfterMania pic.twitter.com/GsIYw5J6vk
— WWE (@WWE) April 21, 2026
“Just say when.”
ANYTHING can happen in the future for @CMPunk and @CodyRhodes… 👀#RawAfterMania pic.twitter.com/ZgaPbprS8k
— WWE (@WWE) April 21, 2026