Cody Rhodes was recently interviewed by Brian Soscha on MixPhiladelphia. Rhodes discusses his protective facemask and how it may have saved his life while taking a move from Randy Orton.

“Honestly, I learned the commitment from masked Cody Rhodes. The level of commitment I had to that was probably where I learned more about myself than anywhere else in my career. I felt more like myself under that mask. I was telling someone else this the other day. When the mask was removed, I felt like Master Chief. I felt like something was wrong with my face. This was real. My face was all un-tanned because I’d been wearing the mask so long. It was such an edge to me to have that mask and it saved my life, actually, to have that mask.

“The very last night I had it, Randy Orton kicked me so hard in what was supposed to be an unbreakable, Dr. Murray designed – the same doctor that made Kobe (Bryant) and Rip Hamilton’s mask – it was supposed to be unbreakable but it had a huge beak on it because it was for a broken nose. He cracked it straight down the middle. Had I not been wearing that mask, I might be dead. I mean it – he kicked me so hard and that was the last night I had it.”


Alex Rodriguez, Kobe Bryant, Peyton Manning and Alexander Ovechkin. Aside from being exceptional athletes and among the very best in their respective fields of battle, all four are true cornerstones: uber-talented stars that teams can build their entire franchises around. In the world of competitive play, they’re known as “franchise players.”

In professional sports, not every team has one of these extraordinary individuals. In fact, some don’t even have one legitimately elite star. But in the squared circle, there’s no shortage of in-ring warriors who could be considered standard-bearers for the Raw and SmackDown brands, and to a larger extent, WWE as a whole.

WWE.com takes an up-close look at Friday night’s best, tackling the undeniably tough challenge of narrowing it down to four Superstars that stand as the face of SmackDown. These competitors are the linchpins of the notorious blue brand, persistently commanding the attention of the WWE Universe while crafting their own unique identity.

Click through to see our four picks, and then cast your vote in WWE.com’s poll to decide who ultimately deserves to be called the franchise player for SmackDown.

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RANDY ORTON vs. CHRIS JERICHO
Cole said Alberto Del Rio is not here on Raw, but he will have some comments on the four-way title match on Smackdown. So, apparently that’s the big hook for Friday’s Smackdown. Orton quickly took control of the match, then cleared Jericho to the outside and stood tall in the ring. Once again, WWE cut to break 1:00 into the match.

Back at 4:15, Jericho was working a headlock on Orton in the ring. They cut to a shot of Jericho cheating to take control of the match during the break. Meanwhile, Sheamus jabbed Cole on commentary and said he hopes WWE pays Lawler well to put up with Cole. Back in the ring, Jericho cut off Orton’s comeback, but Orton got his knees up on a Lionsault attempt. Orton then ran over Jericho with clotheslines before delivering a powerslam. Orton locked eyes with Sheamus, then wanted a second-rope DDT, but Jericho back-dropped him over the top rope to the floor right in front of the announcers.

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Randy Orton has taken a backseat over the last several months, sticking primarily to upper mid-card feuds and staying out of the World heavyweight championship picture.

However, that all changed this week, and it’s about damn time.

Although Orton hasn’t exactly been booked like a jobber, he hasn’t exactly been booked strongly, either. That being said, the WWE finally bumped him back to the main event after one of his best weeks in recent memory.

Orton’s week started off with a strong showing in tag team action on the last episode of Friday Night SmackDown, when he and Big Show teamed up to defeat Cody Rhodes and Kane.

It was the second best match on SmackDown (behind Sheamus vs. Daniel Bryan) and just the latest match in a long line of solid TV bouts involving Orton.

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SHEAMUS & RANDY ORTON vs. CHRIS JERICHO & ALBERTO DEL RIO
Booker T, Michael Cole, and Josh Mathews were shown at ringside during Jericho’s entrance. No car for Del Rio, but Cole covered for him saying he didn’t want to soil his beautiful car in such a dirty city. Orton began the match, but at :43, slapped Sheamus on the shoulder to tag him in. The partners shared a few choice words before Sheamus went after Jericho. Sheamus made a hard tag himself to Orton. Jericho got the upper hand long enough to tag Del Rio. Orton missed a running knee-drop, and ADR immediately began setting up for the cross arm-breaker. A conventional tag was made to Sheamus after Orton broke out of a rest-hold. Sheamus hit the ropes, but Jericho pulled down the ropes and Sheamus fell to ringside. He kicked the injured shoulder of Sheamus for good measure. Back in the ring, Del Rio kicked the arm of Sheamus, then tagged Jericho. Jericho continued to brutalize the arm and shoulder. Booker rightfully countered Cole’s “25 percent chance to retain” claim by saying Daniel Bryan beat the odds a few months ago when people said he had little chance to retain. Orton set up for an RKO, but Jericho countered. Standing dropkick for two, broken up by Del Rio. Sheamus went after Del Rio and Jericho attacked Sheamus. The referee called for the bell, apparently a double disqualification.

WINNERS: Double disqualification, at 5:17.

Referees came out to try to break things up. Things cooled down before they went to break.

Orton and Del Rio were shown walking backstage in a split-screen. Their match is next.

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