The Rock to replace John Cena with WWE megastar after he fails to dethrone Cody Rhodes? Potential WrestleMania 41 surprise explored

Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes kicked off tonight's episode of SmackDown from the O2 Arena in London. The American Nightmare addressed his title defense at WrestleMania 41, which is just 21 nights away. At the grand event, Cody Rhodes will square off against John Cena in a one-on-one title match. Cena enters the match as The Rock's man, his confidante whom The Final Boss has given the responsibility of snatching the championship from Cody.

However, the dynamics might change if Cena fails to remove Cody Rhodes as the WWE Champion. In that case, The Rock might kick Cena out and replace him with another legend to challenge Cody: Randy Orton.

The Viper himself has given hints of this potential swerve, which might happen after WrestleMania 41. Orton surprisingly came out during Cody's promo on SmackDown tonight. When his music hit, it raised the eyebrows of the fans since Randy is currently locked up in a rivalry with Kevin Owens.

Without wasting any time, the Apex Predator came to the point. He told Cody simply that he would soon go after his 15th WWE World Championship, just like Cena is going for his 17th. He said that he wouldn't backstab his former protege but would challenge him to a one-on-one contest like a real man.

However, Orton might pull a similar shocker like Cena by siding with The Rock. If Cena loses the bout to Cody Rhodes, then Randy Orton might not waste this golden opportunity of being the trusted man of one of the most powerful voices in WWE.

The swerve can also happen at WrestleMania 41 during the main event, where Randy Orton can come out initially to congratulate Cody but might hit him with an RKO after the match. In essence, a clash between Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes has been in discussion for a long time, and it will almost certainly happen this year.

Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes can clash at WWE SummerSlam

The Apex Predator and Cody Rhodes can clash at SummerSlam. In case Rhodes retains the title at WrestleMania 41, then it can also be a triple-threat contest with John Cena as the third man.

However, most probably, it could be Rhodes and Orton in a long-running storyline culminating at SummerSlam. Triple H can later have Cena and Orton get in another storyline for another historic clash. It remains to be seen how the company will book a potential rivalry between Orton and Rhodes.