Cody Rhodes Says Injury Suffered At WWE WrestleMania 42 Is Still Affecting Him

If not for the negative reaction surrounding Pat McAfee's involvement, the talk of Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton's WrestleMania 42 match may have been the punt kick Orton delivered to Rhodes that may have legitimately connected with Rhodes' face. Months later, the wounds from that moment haven't entirely healed. Discussing the punt on "Insight with Chris Van Vliet," Rhodes admitted that he was still experiencing effects from the broken orbital bone he suffered from the match, whether it occurred via Orton's punt kick or an earlier punch.

"I think we skated by with a little bit of an orbital fracture, and I think I'm mad at myself for doing so, because it's affected my work since," Rhodes said. "[It] super slowed down...you know what I mean, [my peripheral vision]. Yeah, to a degree, to a little bit. And I feel like that's...you can't go out there, QB1, and say you're in your prime and you're the best you've ever been, if you're dealing with something that's a bit of a hindrance like that. But at this point, we're out of the woods. I got through it, I showed up the next night."

Rhodes may be upset with himself over working through these negative effects, but it hasn't stopped him from continuing on, including facing Orton in a Last Man Standing match at WWE Crown Jewel next month. Rhodes conceded that he was "toxic" when it came to dealing with serious injuries, but admitted he wasn't going to stray from his mindset, even as he implored others to not use him as an example.

"I'm letting you know, that's not good," Rhodes said. "If you're a young wrestler, don't do it. Don't. Live to fight another day. I just, I can't. Something about me can't not want to go. I don't know what it is. I love it too much. Maybe it's ego, I don't know. But I just can't not. So yeah, that was a nasty one."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Insight with Chris Van Vliet" and provide an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription