WWE is apparently going with the main event of Randy Orton vs Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship at WrestleMania 42. The recent Elimination Chamber PPV featured a shocking ending of Orton defeating Rhodes to become the #1 contender for the biggest event of the year. Current Undisputed WWE Champion Drew McIntyre interfered to cost Rhodes again after cheating him out of the belt multiple times.
Authority figure Nick Aldis announced a match of McIntyre defending the title against Rhodes on Smackdown to see the winner facing Orton on the brightest stage. Wrestling insider website PW Insider revealed that Rhodes is currently booked to win the match and face Orton in a massive title match at WrestleMania 42.
Fans speculated various options for this match, with a popular sentiment of a triple threat match getting set up. However, the sudden singles match and this report indicates that Rhodes vs Orton will be a singles match. Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful vouched for PW Insider’s report and revealed he has a story coming soon to reveal when exactly plans changed to set up this chain of events.
Why WWE Made Last Minute Changes
Previous reports and on-screen forecasting made fans believe that another Rhodes vs McIntyre match would be saved for WrestleMania 42. However, WWE has already run this storyline for months. Today’s fans expect a fresher feel for the top storylines during the pivotal WrestleMania season as WWE’s hottest period of the year.
Orton’s name value and star power as a legend of over two decades makes him a bigger draw than McIntyre to the casual fan. CM Punk and Roman Reigns will have one of the main events, but another big attraction is needed for the second night. Rhodes and Orton also have a lot of things working in their favor as a WrestleMania main event worthy match.
Both men have yet to have a big singles match since Cody returned to WWE from AEW and became the face of the company. Orton used to mentor Rhodes back in the 2008 to 2011 years of teaming up in the Legacy faction. McIntyre gets snubbed due to WWE wanting the big money match and telling a new story by rushing to the end of his feud with Rhodes.
Drew McIntyre Suffers Badly From Change
Nothing is official, and a lot of things can change between now and Smackdown on Friday night. Unfortunately, things look bleak for McIntyre if he loses the title to Rhodes and gets removed from the title picture for the biggest show of the year.
McIntyre winning the title a couple of months ago felt like the biggest moment for him in many years. WWE appeared to commit to raising the Scottish star up to the levels of Rhodes and Orton. A loss here would look horrible, as it shows WWE didn’t believe in McIntyre as being a big enough star to main event WrestleMania 42.
Any realistic opponent for Drew outside of Randy and Cody feels like a big step down. McIntyre will likely face Jacob Fatu to pay off their background rivalry in front of the packed Las Vegas venue. Sami Zayn is another realistic choice to get back into the previously established feud, but nothing looks good for McIntyre if he drops the belt.
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