Randy Orton WWE Plans After WrestleMania 42

At WrestleMania 42 Night One, Cody Rhodes defeated Randy Orton to retain the Undisputed WWE Championship.

After this loss, Orton grabbed the title belt and nailed Rhodes with it before delivering a Punt Kick to stand tall at the end of the show.

This opens the door for Orton to go in any number of directions in the weeks and months to come.

Here are six potential Randy Orton WWE plans after WrestleMania 42.

6. Continuing Rivalry With Cody Rhodes

Following the Punt Kick that ended WrestleMania 42 Night One, it seems like Randy Orton will continue his rivalry with Cody Rhodes.

Orton and Rhodes have been at each other’s throats for the past month and a half after “The Viper” turned heel on his former Legacy stablemate.

The Undisputed WWE Championship picture will feature both Orton and Rhodes going to war over the gold moving forward.

Whether it is in another singles match or in a stipulation that escalates this issue between the two men, Orton will look to avenge his WrestleMania 42 loss in the weeks to come.

5. Winning The Undisputed WWE Championship

Coming out of WrestleMania 42, it was confirmed that Cody Rhodes suffered an orbital bone injury.

With Rhodes’ status moving forward uncertain at the time of this writing, this could leave the door open for a new star to win the Undisputed WWE Championship.

Considering he came close to capturing the gold at Mania, Orton should be regarded as a top contender to win the WWE Title if Rhodes is forced to relinquish the gold.

Orton winning the Undisputed WWE Championship will finally give him the elusive 15th world title and put him right back on top of the SmackDown roster.

4. Feud With Trick Williams

At WWE WrestleMania 42 Night Two, Trick Williams defeated Sami Zayn to win the United States Championship.

After weeks of teases, it seems like this match also confirmed that Zayn is now a heel, while Williams has finally embraced the positive reactions he has received from the fans by becoming a babyface.

Now that he holds the US Title, Trick feels like a new babyface that could further be cemented among the best SmackDown has to offer.

The best way to do this might be feuding Trick with someone of the stature of Randy Orton in a high profile rivalry.

3. Revealing Himself As Jacob Fatu’s Attacker

Back in October 2025, Jacob Fatu was attacked backstage by a mystery assailant.

After being laid out by this mystery attacker, Fatu was out for a number of months before making his comeback in January.

While he originally believed either Drew McIntyre or Cody Rhodes were behind the attack, it seems like “The Samoan Werewolf” still does not actually know who was behind this assault.

Randy Orton revealing himself as the mystery attacker would set up a tantalizing feud between him and Fatu that could dominate WWE SmackDown television.

2. Restarting His Storyline With Aleister Black

After WrestleMania 42, reports revealed that the storyline with Randy Orton, Cody Rhodes and Pat McAfee heading into the show was originally pitched to involve Aleister Black.

Prior to WWE Elimination Chamber 2026, Black started playing mind games with Orton in a bid for him to show his true side by becoming “The Apex Predator” again.

However, Black was replaced by Pat McAfee in this story to garner more attention for this feud with Cody Rhodes. Despite that change, the end result of the story did in fact happen with Orton delivering the Punt Kick to Rhodes.

Now that Mania is in the rearview mirror, WWE could reintroduce Black into the story and have him become the latest ally of Orton against “The American Nightmare.”

1. Moving To Monday Night Raw To Feud With CM Punk

While it seems like Randy Orton will remain on Friday Night SmackDown, WWE could be fast approaching another brand split of some kind.

After suffering a loss to Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 42, WWE could think about moving Orton over to Monday Night Raw.

WWE Raw has become the premier brand in WWE ever since premiering on Netflix and Orton could reestablish himself among the top talent on the show moving forward.

Most notably, Orton could move to Raw and kickstart a feud with CM Punk that might rekindle their animosity from 2011 all over again.

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