Will Randy Orton turn heel against Cody Rhodes at Night of Champions?

Summary

• Randy Orton has been teasing his heel turn for a long time, and could pull it off at the WWE Night of Champions
• The Viper has been attempting his punt kick for a long time, and might execute it against Cody Rhodes
• Randy has come short of winning his 15th world title numerous times, only to fall short due to controversial endings

Randy Orton could be all set to turn heel if he loses to Cody Rhodes at the WWE Night of Champions. As the former student and mentor will be against each other to become the King of the Ring, the Viper is desperate for his 15th world title and might be willing to do everything in his power to get the job done. As Cody stands in his way, the Apex Predator might finally explode.

Randy returned at the Survivor Series War Games 2023 following his absence from the ring for nearly 2 years. He got a shot at the world title in a Fatal 4-way match at the Royal Rumble against AJ Styles, LA Knight, and Roman Reigns, and failed to win it. He made it to the final of the King of the Ring later that year and lost it to Gunther in what was a controversial way to end the match.

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In the rematch, Randy lost clean to Gunther at the Bash in Berlin. He was later taken out by Kevin Owens on WWE SmackDown after Crown Jewel through a Package Piledriver, which led to him being out of action for over 4 months. The Viper finally returned to avenge KO at the Elimination Chamber 2025 with a different version of himself.

Since then, the Apex Predator has been eyeing to deliver a Punt Kick to many of his opponents, but has failed to do so. His first moment of frustration was the inability to get his hands on Kevin, who has been indefinitely out of action. Randy beat Joe Hendry at WrestleMania 41 and went after John Cena for the world title at Backlash 2025.

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The PLE, which took place in his hometown, St. Louis, was a nostalgia trip. Randy was very close to winning his 15th world title when the referee was down and could not count the pinfall, which cost Orton his title. A frustrated Orton returned for the King of the Ring tournament after taking a break for a few weeks.

In his promo against Cody, Orton confirmed that go to any extent to become the world champion for the 15th time. At the King of the Ring, Randy might well try everything in his arsenal to earn the crown. A failure to do so could lead to him finally exploding for all the injustice that happened to him, to turn heel.

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The Cody vs Randy feud has been teased for a long time. It is one of the most highly anticipated feuds and must happen in a major PLE. With SummerSlam around the corner, their feud could be booked, although the winner will face either Gunther or Cena for the world title in the 2-night PLE.