Latest On Cody Rhodes After WrestleMania 42 Injury (WWE News)

Following WrestleMania 42 Night 1, Cody Rhodes is not medically cleared.

By Andrew Pollard / April 20, 2026

WWE

Having suffered a grim eye injury in the main event of WrestleMania 42 Night 1, there's now an update on the status of WWE's Cody Rhodes.

For those who may have missed it, WWE released footage online of the American Nightmare being attended to backstage by medical staff following his 'Mania win over Randy Orton to retain the WWE Championship. There, Rhodes' left eye was bloodied, bruised, and swollen shut, and the Night 1 post-show saw it suggested that Cody was now in concussion protocol.

Following that, WWE sent out notifications to fans attending WWE World on Sunday that Cody Rhodes had been pulled from a scheduled appearance. The WrestleMania 42 Night 2 pre-show then saw Jackie Redmond state that Cody had damaged his orbital socket, that his eye was still completely swollen shut, and any return to the ring was "up in the air" - with Redmond crediting a post-match Randy Orton punt for causing the damage.

BodySlam+ reports that Cody Rhodes required three stitches to his face and four staples to the back of his head following the match. As for how the orbital injury happened, PWInsider Elite notes that this was not as a result of the punt kick, but actually happened when Cody took a punch from Orton shortly before Randy hit an RKO on referee Charles Robinson.

An image surfaced online yesterday of Cody showing the full effect of this injury:

Wrestlemania 42! LFG pic.twitter.com/wTePU7vbJP— The Big Jackpot (@TheBigJackpot) April 19, 2026

So, as it stands, Cody Rhodes is very much not cleared to wrestle. Whether he appears on tonight's much-hyped post-WrestleMania Raw remains to be seen, and likewise, it throws plenty of question marks around Rhodes' status for WWE Backlash, which takes place on May 9th.

Authored by Andrew Pollard

Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.

Posted On: 20th Apr 2026

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Randy Orton Cody Rhodes WWE News WWE WrestleMania 42