Drew McIntyre Shames Cody Rhodes’ Late Father on SmackDown After Setting up a Three Stages of Hell Match for the WWE Title

Drew McIntyre made it extremely personal with Cody Rhodes after bringing up his family during their face-off on SmackDown.

Drew McIntyre Shames Cody Rhodes’ Late Father on SmackDown After Setting up a Three Stages of Hell Match for the WWE Title

Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre on SmackDown [via- WWE]

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A feud so packed with hatred and disdain between Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre has finally gotten its rightful stomping grounds. On the January 9 edition of SmackDown in Berlin, the former AEW EVP will defend his Undisputed WWE title against the Scot in a Three Stages of Hell match, the first of its kind since 2013 on the main roster.

Although back in 2019, Johnny Gargano and Adam Cole did go through three stages of hell, they didn’t do it in front of the main roster audience. Speaking of when it happened the last time around, one has to turn the clocks back to 2013, when John Cena and Ryback duked it out at the Payback PLE.

Circling back to Rhodes and McIntyre, a lot went down between them last night. At first, ‘The Scottish Psychopath’ tendered a half-hearted apology to Dan Engler, the same referee whom he had Claymored a few weeks ago.

GM Nick Aldis was pleasantly surprised seeing the former WWE Champion own up to his condemnable actions to a WWE official. The fans soon found out that it was merely a ruse.

McIntyre started belittling the referee and mocked his failed aspirations of becoming a pro wrestler. ‘The Chosen One’ crossed the line when he brought up Engler’s wife, Melissa, and said she wished she had a husband like McIntyre, who stood up for his convictions regardless of the consequences. The Scotsman didn’t even spare Engler’s children, for whom he felt sorry because they had such a corporate stooge for a father.

Just as Drew McIntyre asked the referee to hit him in retaliation, Cody Rhodes‘ music hit. ‘The American Nightmare’ was all riled up and had to be vehemently held back by Nick Aldis. McIntyre knew Rhodes would’ve been stripped of the WWE title if he’d even laid a finger on him, so ‘The Chosen One’ started talking trash with Rhodes, hoping he’d eventually snap.

McIntyre hoped Rhodes’ family was there in the tour bus when he got ambushed by ‘The Scottish Warrior’ inside it. The former 3MB member wanted Rhodes’ kids to see a real man put the boots to him and let his wife, Brandi, know what a real daddy looked like.

Rhodes was getting restless, but Aldis made sure to keep him within his grasp. The Ayr-born wrestler ultimately revealed the match stipulation for their WWE title showdown as stated above. The most diabolical insults of all came when McIntyre told ‘The QB1’ to say “hi” to his late father after he dispatches him to hell via the obvious brutality they’re about to put themselves through.

It was the final straw for Rhodes to get himself out of Aldis’s clutches. The North Carolina native hit a back elbow on the SmackDown GM before ending up getting Claymored in the face by McIntyre as he turned around. The latter stood tall with the WWE title to end the show.

How could Cody Rhodes retaining the WWE Championship against Drew McIntyre backfire?

Since this week’s SmackDown was pre-taped, WWE ran a live event in Baltimore to kick off its Holiday Tour. Cody Rhodes successfully retained his Undisputed WWE title against Drew McIntyre in a Street Fight. The ending saw the champ hit the challenger with a Cross Rhodes and put him through the table with a Frog Splash.

Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre
Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre brawling [via- WWE]

While the fans in the arena cheered big time when Rhodes kept his title reign intact, the majority of the WWE Universe could lose it if McIntyre fails on January 9. ‘The Chosen One’ has already lost a couple of title matches against Rhodes, first at Wrestlepalooza, after which he accused referee Dan Engler of working in cahoots with ‘The American Nightmare’.

Secondly, they got themselves into an impromptu match on SmackDown, which ended in a DQ when Rhodes clocked McIntyre with the title belt to his skull. They ran it back at Saturday Night’s Main Event with the stipulation that ‘The Prodigal Son’ would lose his championship even if he got disqualified or counted out.

But even that didn’t work in Drew McIntyre’s favor, and he came out of it as the ultimate sore loser. This rivalry has boiled down to a point where it seems almost necessary for ‘The Scottish Psychopath’ to dethrone ‘The Quarterback of WWE’ to restore his credibility as a certified main-event heel in the company.

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