Randy Orton can be vicious, both physically and psychologically, which is something Cody Rhodes is all too familiar with. However, on the August 28th episode of SmackDown, he went too far even by his own standard.

Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton had a promo ahead of their clash at WWE Sunday Night’s Main Event. To give context, SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis threatened both men by saying that if they laid a finger on each other before the match, they would never get a WWE Title shot again. This is exactly the basis on which Orton started talking all sorts of trash to Cody. He took a shot at his dog Pharaoh, who is 15-16 years old and still alive. He asked if he was dead and buried. He hurled insults at Cody’s mom and wife that we can’t mention here, but you can see it in the tweet below.

Cody managed to restrain himself successfully. Regardless, the verbal attack was vicious even by Orton’s standards. The Viper has been on a bit of a tear this year, barring those few months when he was injured after WrestleMania 42. But it isn’t surprising in any way to see Orton reaching this state.

Randy Orton had a backstage interaction with Kevin Owens

What’s interesting is the fact that Orton had a backstage interaction with Kevin Owens, whom he was supposed to face at WrestleMania 41. They both were on the same page about disliking Cody Rhodes, but the tensions were still palpable, and they aren’t exactly going to be friends again.

We are going to witness a WrestleMania rematch at Sunday Night’s Main Event next week, and there will be a lot of anticipation regarding who picks up the victory and moves forward.