New picture shows Cody Rhodes' eye after 'severe' Wrestlemania 42 injury that will keep him out ‘indefinitely’

A battered and bruised Cody Rhodes was pictured attending a meet-and-greet session with fans, a day after his much-talked-about Wrestlemania 42 showdown.

'The American Nightmare' retained his WWE undisputed heavyweight title against 'The Viper' Randy Orton to close out an eventful opening night in Las Vegas, but a nasty-looking eye injury somewhat overshadowed his victory.

Many assumed it was Orton's infamous punt that caused the damage to Rhodes' orbital socket but according to PWInsider, it was a punch from Orton that accidentally caught Rhodes, who was then poked in the eye.

In fact, after his left eye swelled shut, Rhodes was placed in concussion protocol and pulled from a scheduled photo session on Sunday. However, he did take pictures with some fans, as seen in The Big Jackpot's post on social media below.

It was later confirmed that Rhodes suffered "severe" damage to his eye and will be out of action indefinitely.

“I can confirm that Cody Rhodes is not medically cleared,” WWE's Jackie Redmond said. "After speaking to medical staff, I can tell you, the damage from that main event was severe.

“Afterwards, Cody Rhodes needed three sutures to the face and four staples to the back of the head. As for the punt that you just showed from Randy Orton, the impact to Cody’s orbital socket was so severe that his eye is still completely shut."

READ NEXT: Paul Heyman addresses Brock Lesnar retirement rumours after emotional WrestleMania segment

Redmond added: “So again, Cody Rhodes is not medically cleared, and his timetable for return as of today is up in the air. If I hear anything further, I’ll be the first to let you know.”

With there being no timetable for Rhodes' return, fans on social media reacted in their droves to his injury.

One said: "Randy pulled, Cody forgot to move. Sucks either way. Unfortunate spot," while another commented: "You can even hear the connection. Good lord."

A third wrote: "Damn you can hear it," while a fourth added: "Maybe I’m hearing things but that third punch made a sound. If anything the punt made Cody’s eye worse than it already was."

Cody Rhodes’ eye injury was from a punch by Randy Orton right before the RKO to Charles Robinson.

Cody’s eye swelled up after the match.

(PWInsider) pic.twitter.com/KI3S48pUlk

— WrestlePurists (@WrestlePurists) April 19, 2026

The fallout from WrestleMania 42 will take place on Monday's edition of RAW. No matches have been announced yet, but Roman Reigns, CM Punk, Oba Femi and Brock Lesnar will appear, according to Netflix.