Randy Orton needs to beat Cody Rhodes at WWE Sunday Night’s Main Event, and doing it in Atlanta makes the win worth twice as much. Every other finish wastes a rivalry two decades in the making.
Orton returned on Night One of SummerSlam after months away, rushing the ring during the Undisputed WWE Championship match between Rhodes and CM Punk. An RKO left Rhodes exhausted on the mat, Punk followed with a GTS, and the champion walked out with the belt.
Rhodes came to SmackDown demanding answers and got none. Orton told him he owed nothing. He then made a mission statement out of it, promising to ensure The American Nightmare never wins the world title again.
The Aug. 14 SmackDown escalated things further. Orton ambushed Rhodes before his number one contender match with Sami Zayn could start, and officials needed several attempts to separate the two.
Nick Aldis made the match official the next day. Rhodes and Orton meet one-on-one on Sept. 6 at State Farm Arena, the first time the special has run on a Sunday.
Rhodes has beaten Orton three straight times since returning to WWE in 2022. The list includes a King of the Ring victory in Saudi Arabia in 2025 and a win at WrestleMania 42 Night One.
Atlanta belongs to Rhodes. The American Nightmare has not lost in his hometown since 2017 and sits 3-0 at State Farm Arena. WWE loves protecting a streak like that on a night built around a homecoming.
Every one of those numbers argues for the same predictable finish. Every one of them is also the reason the opposite result would land so hard.
A heel who returns, costs somebody a world championship, and then loses the first singles match has accomplished nothing. Orton would be back to square one three weeks after the biggest return of his year.
Taking the win changes the entire shape of the story. Orton would have a signature victory over the biggest babyface in the company. Even better, it would be in that babyface’s hometown, ending a losing streak and a nine-year unbeaten run in one night.
The history gives the loss extra teeth. Orton mentored Rhodes in Legacy nearly twenty years ago. A former teacher finally beating his student in that student’s hometown is a story WWE has been sitting on since the turn.
The rivalry needs somewhere to go. Rhodes chasing Orton for a rematch is a program with real stakes. A grudge match staged later with a stipulation carries far more weight when the challenger is actually behind.
Rhodes wins the third one. Losing at home, coming back for revenge, and finally putting Orton away is a three-act structure that ends with the payoff in the right place rather than the first chapter.
Orton turning heel on the road to WrestleMania 42 was the best decision WWE made all year, and the company has spent the months since undercutting it. A Legend Killer who loses to the same man over and over is not a threat. A Legend Killer is supposed to take things away.
Atlanta is the whole point. Booking Rhodes to win at home is the safe call; the crowd goes home happy, and absolutely nothing about the feud changes. Booking Orton to win sends 15,000 people into the parking lot furious, and furious is the emotion that sells the rematch.
The math is not complicated. Rhodes does not need the win, because he has three of them already and a world title reign behind him. Orton needs it badly, because a returning heel with a mission and an 0-4 record against his target is a punchline. Give The Viper the victory in September, let Rhodes chase him through the fall, and finish the story at a stadium show where the comeback means something. Twenty years of history deserve better than another routine Rhodes win.
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