PORTLAND, Ore. -- On February 28th, the WWE’s Elimination Chamber Premium Live Event ended with ‘The Viper’ Randy Orton standing tall, pointing at the WrestleMania sign after winning the Chamber match, set for a WWE Championship showdown with Drew McIntyre.
Just six nights later, the Road to WrestleMania has been flipped upside down.
On Friday’s episode of SmackDown, Cody Rhodes defeated Drew McIntyre, reclaimed his WWE Title and his ‘QB1’ status, and now has a date with destiny set for ‘The Show of Shows’, as he and Randy Orton will add a new chapter to their storied relationship.
Considering that Cody was never supposed to get a title shot again as long as Drew was champion, how did Rhodes end up with this match?
During the Chamber post-show, SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis was irate that McIntyre interfered in the match, and announced that Drew would once again take on Cody Rhodes for the title on the upcoming Friday night. We now know that this was the WWE's way of getting the belt back onto Cody.
It’s clear that Triple H and the rest of WWE’s creative team were married to the idea of seeing Cody vs Randy in a potential WrestleMania main event, especially when you take into account the fact that they went back on their own stipulation to make it happen.
These two will undoubtedly have an amazing build with some great promo battles in the lead up, and I’m sure they’ll tear the house down with their match as well.
Still, the entire reason the WWE universe was behind the Elimination Chamber ending was because something different happened, and it wasn’t the same tired Cody Rhodes push. Most fans were excited to potentially see Drew vs Randy on ‘The Grandest Stage of Them All’.
Now, Rhodes is not just fighting for the title, he will be the Champ entering WrestleMania.
Jacob Fatu had a minor interference against Drew in the title match, so it seems that maybe the WWE will go forward with him vs Drew. There is still an outside chance for a four-man match, but it now seems unlikely.
Only time will tell if this move is worth it for the WWE. They had a champion in McIntyre that the fans really enjoyed. He didn’t get to do anything outside of the Rhodes saga in his reign as champ, except for an excellent match against Sami Zayn at the Royal Rumble.
Regardless, wrestling fans are in for a treat with Cody vs Randy, as this feud has been looming for a while, and the WWE finally decided to pull the trigger.
