Cody Rhodes Suffers BRUTAL Eye Injury In WrestleMania 42 Win (WWE News)

Cody Rhodes left with a bloodied, bruised, swollen shut left eye after WrestleMania 42 Night 1.

WWE WrestleMania 42 Cody Rhodes
WWE

He may have retained the WWE Championship in the WrestleMania 42 Night 1 main event, but Cody Rhodes was certainly left worse for wear by the time all was said and done with that first leg of this year's Showcase of the Immortals.

In that main event, Rhodes defeated Randy Orton to keep hold of the WWE Title, putting the Viper away with a Cross Rhodes after Orton had shockingly RKO'd Pat McAfee. Of course, Orton and McAfee have been aligned in recent weeks, and Pat gave Randy his own ring introduction last night, before the former NFL star hit Cody Rhodes with the microphone to kickstart this match.

McAfee would quickly be neutralised by Jelly Roll, who put him through the announce desk, leading to Pat being stretched to the back. However, after a blinded Randy Orton - blood running down his face - mistakenly RKO'd referee Charles Robinson, Pat McAfee came to the ring in a referee's shirt as Orton countered a Beautiful Disaster into an RKO on Rhodes. Pat counted the 1, the 2... but Cody got a shoulder up before the 3, which led to the frustrated Randy laying out McAfee with that RKO, before Randal Keith was hit with the match-winning Cross Rhodes.

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Post-match, Randy Orton would hit Cody Rhodes with the WWE Title and then take him out with a punt kick to close out Night 1 of WrestleMania 42.

Much like Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes was also busted open during this main event, and the 'Mania 42 post-show had Joe Tessitore announce that the American Nightmare had suffered an eye injury, as we saw footage of Cody being tended to by medical staff. And man, did that left eye look brutal, all bloodied and bruised, and seemingly swollen shut. Peter Rosenberg then suggested that Rhodes could be in concussion protocol for the next few days, too.

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Senior Writer
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.