Cody Rhodes Dethrones Drew McIntyre for the WWE Title to Set up Randy Orton Dream Match at WrestleMania 42

Cody Rhodes is now a three-time Undisputed WWE Champion. He's set to take on Randy Orton in the main event of WrestleMania 42.

Cody Rhodes Dethrones Drew McIntyre for the WWE Title to Set up Randy Orton Dream Match at WrestleMania 42

Cody Rhodes with the Undisputed WWE title [via- WrestlingNews.co]

Cody Rhodes found the silver lining on this week’s SmackDown after having gone through a lean patch since the start of this year. ‘The American Nightmare’ not only got his title rematch against Drew McIntyre, but he also defeated the Scot to become a 3-time Undisputed WWE Champion.

This match came about after McIntyre cost Rhodes both during the Royal Rumble and the Elimination Chamber matches. SmackDown GM Nick Aldis went back on his word of not bestowing a world title shot on ‘The QB1’ owing to Drew McIntyre’s reluctance to stay away from anything involving Cody Rhodes.

Aldis had announced that McIntyre will indeed put the gold on the line this Friday itself. They even interacted backstage before last night’s main event, where the general manager informed ‘The Scottish Psychopath’ that he also had the option of relinquishing the championship if he didn’t want to defend it.

McIntyre lamented that the entire world had turned against him once again and Rhodes would have to walk over his cold body to take the WWE title from him. ‘The Chosen One’ intended to blast his opponent with the Undisputed WWE Championship belt during the matchup. Just as McIntyre was about to smash Rhodes with it, Jacob Fatu, from behind, snatched it away from the Ayr-born wrestler.

It’s worth noting that McIntyre clobbered Fatu’s skull with the title belt last week during the Samoan Werewolf’s match with Logan Paul to qualify for the Elimination Chamber. McIntyre’s underhanded tactics resulted in Paul picking up the win over Fatu. The former Bloodline member stopped ‘Big D’ from emulating those exploits on ‘The American Nightmare’.

McIntyre was seething at Fatu but quickly got rolled up by Rhodes for a near fall. McIntyre and Rhodes borrowed each other’s finishing maneuvers too but couldn’t get the pinfall. The closing moments saw ‘The Prodigal Son’ executing a top-rope-assisted Cody Cutter followed by Cross Rhodes on McIntyre to end the latter’s title reign at the 56-day mark.

Which now means that Rhodes will defend the Undisputed WWE Championship against his longtime mentor-cum-friend Randy Orton at WrestleMania 42 in Las Vegas. WWE Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque didn’t waste any time to reveal the match poster for Orton vs. Rhodes.

Sami Zayn had interesting interactions with Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton on SmackDown

Before regaining the Undisputed WWE title in the main event of SmackDown, Cody Rhodes got confronted by Sami Zayn backstage. The latter started by mentioning how things have been a bit icy between the two of them over the past couple of weeks. The former ‘Honorary Uce’ took slight offense with Rhodes getting his rematch with McIntyre even after he lost the Elimination Chamber match.

Sami Zayn bumped into Cody Rhodes and Sami Zayn on SmackDown
Sami Zayn bumped into Cody Rhodes and Sami Zayn on SmackDown [via- WWE]

Zayn was clearly upset with the fact that he hadn’t received his rematch yet, but everything had eventually fallen into The QB1’s lap all over again.

The ex-AEW EVP vehemently told Zayn that he was posturing and politicking with him to get a title shot at a time when he wasn’t even the champion, which Rhodes became by the end of the night, and it’ll be interesting to see how things go between Rhodes and Zayn whenever they meet next.

The erstwhile El Generico snapped hearing Cody Rhodes accuse him of angling his way into a WWE title opportunity when all he had come to do was to tell Rhodes that he was rooting for him against Drew McIntyre. After Rhodes exited, Zayn screamed in agony. After he bumped into Rhodes, Zayn also had a talk with Randy Orton later on.

‘The Great Liberator’ asked ‘The Viper’ how he mustered up the willingness to drop Rhodes with an RKO in a heartbeat just like he did to win the Elimination Chamber match. Zayn couldn’t comprehend Orton pulling the trigger without any hesitation on one of his closest friends in the world.

‘The Apex Predator’ noted that it’s necessary to be selfish sometimes in this business, and he doesn’t care about it making him a bad person when he has 14 world titles next to his resume. Orton told Zayn that he has the potential to put the world title around his waist but affirmed that he should start listening to the voices in his head.

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