WWE veteran explains reason behind Cody Rhodes' and Randy Orton's victories on SmackDown (Exclusive)

Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes were victorious in their respective King of the Ring tournament matches on WWE SmackDown. However, wrestling veteran Vince Russo believes that the two did not need to advance in the tournament while explaining the possible reason behind the company's decision.

The Legend Killer defeated Aleister Black, LA Knight, and Carmelo Hayes, while The American Nightmare got the better of Damian Priest, Andrade, and Shinsuke Nakamura. Orton will now face Sami Zayn in the semi-finals of the tournament. However, Rhodes' opponent will be revealed on the upcoming episode of RAW.

Speaking about the matches on Sportskeeda Wrestling's BroDown, Vince Russo noted that Randy Orton and Cody Rhodes are already main-event tier stars and thus did not need the victory. However, the lack of stars in WWE forced the company to book the two to win.

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"This just goes to show you everything we are talking about. At this point in their careers, where they are on the card, does Randy Orton or Cody Rhodes really need to be winning King of the Ring? This just shows you that nobody is over. They keep going back to the same people."

The former WWE writer added that declining Netflix ratings could also be the reason why the company has been pushing top names recently.

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"I think a couple of things are happening here. Firstly, they are not getting anybody over, and number two, Netflix is looking at the ratings, and they don’t. Know who these people are, and they want star power." [From 16:44 onwards]

Check out the complete episode of BroDown below:

It seems like WWE is setting up Randy Orton vs. Cody Rhodes for the finals of the King of the Ring Tournament. However, both former Legacy members have one more hurdle to cross.

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