Cody Rhodes pays tribute to current SmackDown star; says he wouldn't be WWE Champion without him

Cody Rhodes opened the show in Omaha, Nebraska on Friday Night SmackDown tonight. In the very first segment, he made sure to pay tribute to a current SmackDown star who was recently taken out.

As fans can recall, last week's episode of SmackDown ended chaotically as Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton were both taken out by The Bloodline - setting up and confirming Solo Sikoa's WWE championship opportunity after he pinned Cody at Money in the Bank.

Just a couple of weeks before WWE SummerSlam, Cody paid tribute to Randy Orton - who is his friend and long-time mentor. He said he wouldn't have been Undisputed WWE Champion without Orton.

There have been glimpses between April and July where Randy Orton has very subtly expressed his interest in the Undisputed WWE Championship - a title he has held before several times.

It's going to be interesting to see what happens when Orton returns or when the feud with Cody will kick off. Assuming Roman Reigns returns at SummerSlam, then it's almost guaranteed that he will go after the Undisputed WWE Title. However, the recent events involving The Bloodline suggest that he could go another direction altogether.

Either way, Randy Orton vs. Cody Rhodes seems to be a matter of "when" and not "if."