Will Cody Rhodes or Randy Orton appear on WWE SmackDown tonight? The truth about their injuries

Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes are arguably WWE SmackDown's biggest names today, but both of them have recently suffered an injury at the hands of the same man. Unfortunately, it looks like they might not be seen for a while on the Friday show.

A month ago, Kevin Owens and Randy Orton brawled on WWE SmackDown where the former delivered a Piledriver to the latter, causing him to be sidelined with a cervical cord neurapraxia. Recently at Saturday Night's Main Event, The Prizefighter did the same to Cody Rhodes when he hit him with a Package Piledriver after their Undisputed WWE Championship match. The company later announced that the champion suffered a cervical spine injury. Both men aren't expected to appear on television anytime soon but for a different reason.

The December 20, 2024, episode of WWE SmackDown was taped after last week's show, this was to give superstars more time with their families this holiday. As for Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton's injuries, they are not legitimate and are only for storyline purposes. However, to sell their conditions and further the storylines, they most likely won't appear on television for a while.

Although The American Nightmare and The Viper aren't expected on the upcoming Friday show, Kevin Owens is advertised to appear. Interestingly, he might even have the Winged Eagle Championship that he stole from Cody after the attack last weekend.

Which WWE SmackDown star praised Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton?

Many fans and professionals respect and adore the former Legacy groupmates, but being on the top means they also have shared enemies like The Prizefighter. However, one former opponent who still looks at them positively is Carmelo Hayes.

While talking to Denise Salcedo, Carmelo recalled working with Cody and Randy and shared that the duo taught him a lot about the wrestling business that he wouldn't have known without working with them.

“But really, it's just kind of like that upping my game to that next level, because there's so many guys up there that I've got to work with, Cody and Randy, and things like that that have taught me that there are so many different levels to this game and there's levels that I would have never knew if I wasn't in the ring with those guys. So it's been an amazing process and I'm just getting started really and I'm looking forward to see what's next."

It will be interesting to see what will happen next with Kevin once Randy and Cody return to WWE.