Cody Rhodes Fires Back at Pat McAfee After SmackDown Chair Attack: “He Will Get a Receipt”

Cody Rhodes wasn’t done on SmackDown after all. Despite being blindsided by Pat McAfee and then hit with multiple chair shots from Randy Orton during the opening segment of the April 3 episode, the Undisputed WWE Champion returned during the final hour of the show, attacking Kit Wilson with a CrossRhodes before grabbing the microphone to address the biggest reveal of the night.

Rhodes wasted no time putting the McAfee revelation in perspective. “We all got dressed up to find out who it was that Randy was talking to on the phone. Then it was Pat McAfee. That is the same as the third member of the nWo not being Hulk Hogan, but Disco Inferno.” He made equally clear that retribution is coming. “He will get a receipt. Him and everyone he is with can kiss his ass.”

Cody Rhodes Teases Heading to a “Dark Place” as WrestleMania 42 Approaches

The most intriguing element of Rhodes’ promo was what came next — a moment that suggested his character is shifting heading into Las Vegas. After Stephanie McMahon told him he needs to go to a dark place and become a bad guy, Rhodes responded with something that opened the door to a new dimension of his WrestleMania 42 story. “He says he doesn’t know if he knows how to do it anymore. But he says he has been hearing those voices in his head. You don’t want to hear what they have to say.” The tease of a harder, darker version of Cody Rhodes in the final stretch of the WrestleMania build adds compelling new energy to what is already one of the most personal feuds on the card.