Cody Rhodes is proud of how he handled the situation at WrestleMania 42

WrestleMania 42 has been one of the most controversial events of WWE in the TKO era. On one hand, the company maintained high ticket prices, which led to a lower total attendance than the previous edition. Additionally, the decision to repeat the venue in Las Vegas did not contribute to the show receiving a great reception.

To this, we must add some creative decisions, such as adding a heel Pat McAfee to the rivalry between Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton, which sparked a wave of criticism from fans. WWE decided to move forward with the plan, although modifying it enough for McAfee to be taken out of the equation for a good part of the match. Now, two months after that, Rhodes remembers it as one of the moments he is most proud of in his entire career.

"I hope wrestling fans can understand that, behind the scenes, for me, it was probably the moment I felt most proud of how I handled a situation. It was probably the day I was calmest in my entire career and, even though I had a destroyed eye, after the match was probably the calmest I ever left the ring," Rhodes said in a recent interview with Ariel Helwani.

"There were many new factors. Companies change, guidelines change. That's part of any aspect of life and any kind of entertainment. I just wanted to follow the example of the people who were my mentors. I thought a lot about my father and I thought a lot about Hunter, and how they would have faced something so particular.

You're fighting against someone you have almost 20 years of history with, but there's also that incredibly daring character of Pat McAfee, with a huge ability to connect with different audiences and succeeding on ESPN; and there's also Jelly Roll, who has just won several Grammy awards. All I wanted was for everything to work that night and for everyone to feel like we had given our best effort.

Looking back now, maybe I'm analyzing it too much from an internal perspective, but internally I felt very proud because, you know, you're dealing with big names and, potentially, big egos. I wanted to do things right, once again, for the people who shaped me in this business. And I thought: 'I'm going to make this work'. And not just work; if I can, I'm going to make it shine," he concluded.

Cody Rhodes retained the WWE Undisputed Championship against Randy Orton in the main event of night one of WrestleMania 42. The defeat led "The Viper" to brutally attack "The American Nightmare" with a punt kick. As a result, Cody ended up with a black eye. Orton, on the other hand, has not appeared on WWE television programming since, just like Pat McAfee, who stated that his story in the company had come to an end.