Randy Orton Praises Cody Rhodes For Having 'The Balls' To Leave WWE

Since returning to WWE, Cody Rhodes has won back-to-back Royal Rumbles, main evented WrestleMania twice, and became the Undisputed WWE Champion. However, Rhodes spent nearly six years away from WWE before coming back and accomplishing his dream of becoming World Champion, and veteran Randy Orton praised him for having the confidence to bet on himself. Speaking with Rhodes on his podcast "What Do You Wanna Talk About," Orton credited "The American Nightmare" and admitted that he wouldn't have had the courage to exit like that. 

"I'm so proud of you, dude. Legitimately so proud of you. When you left, the balls it took for you to leave and then, like, start from scratch kind of, but not. I mean, that's not the right way to say it, because you were Cody f*****g Rhodes, but to do what you did, I could never have done what you did, never, never. So, when I say I'm proud of you, like I legitimately mean it." 

Orton also spoke about Rhodes' WrestleMania 39 loss to Roman Reigns, stating how gut-wrenching it was when he didn't win the title. However, he was thrilled to see Rhodes finally finish his story at WrestleMania 40, despite The Rock almost taking his spot leading up to the event. 

"To see it finally come and then with The Rock, probably the most recognized guy in the world. Wanted to come in and be the guy and be a good guy, and he couldn't because of you. And then you came through, and then you succeeded ... That's the thing is, like you did what no one else f*****g did."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "What Do You Wanna Talk About?" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.