How long and against who do you want Cody Rhodes to be champ

[Instant Classic]

Assuming he beats Roman for the title who are some people you want him to decent the title against and when would you have him lose it?

First off, I would not have Cody lose the belt at least until Wrestlemania 41. I’m tired of people winning a title and holding it for at least a year, it seems it’s the norm now as opposed to holding a belt for a couple months. However, whoever beats Roman for the title should be an exception. They need to have at the very least a year long reign.

I’d have Cody start his reign with a feud against Randy Orton. Have the first match be face vs face, student vs teacher. Cody beats him and Orton turns heel and they have a blood feud ending at Summerslam in a hell in a cell.

After Summerslam I’d have AJ Styles challenge him in a month or two long program seeing as how they’ve never faced each other.

We gotta get a Gunther feud in there as well.

Then have Cena vs Rhodes at the rumble.

Finally, I’d have Kevin Owens win the rumble and beat Cody for the title.

I’d have more people in this but those are the biggest stars I want Cody to face.

[polarbearpete]

I like your ideas, except I might be tempted to go with Punk vs. Cody as the marquee match at next year’s Mania (with Roman vs. Rock being the other).

[chronocross]

I think 6 months to a year is good enough IMO.

Definitely start with a feud with Orton as I don't think he will be a face for much longer.

I think Roman will get the return match at Summerslam this year in Cleveland.

[froggyfrog]

Damian Priest cashing in MITB a minute after Cody wins would be the funniest way to continue the story tbh

[eJm]

Cody losing to Gunther at SummerSlam sounds good to me.

Get the Roman rematch out of the way to set up future Bloodline stuff, if Drew doesn’t beat Seth (and he probably should), have him be a challenger if his contract is expiring to put him over as he leaves and in the meantime, have Gunther mow fools in retaliation for losing the IC title and kill Cody.

[Matt]

Mar 19, 2024 13:11:10 GMT -5 froggyfrog said:

Damian Priest cashing in MITB a minute after Cody wins would be the funniest way to continue the story tbh

I was gonna say next night on Raw but yeah that.

[ChitownKnight]

Roman rematch at Backlash, vs AJ at whatever June PPV, vs Orton at MITB (at first Orton goes heel then shakes his hand after the PPV), Summerslam vs the Rock and then loses to Gunther at Bash at Berlin

[Doo Doo Dickhead]

I'd have him drop it to Gunther at SummerSlam.

[eJm]

Mar 19, 2024 14:13:38 GMT -5 ChitownKnight said:

Roman rematch at Backlash, vs AJ at whatever June PPV, vs Orton at MITB (at first Orton goes heel then shakes his hand after the PPV), Summerslam vs the Rock and then loses to Gunther at Bash at Berlin

I’d say Bash at Berlin would be where you have Gunther’s first defense. Him coming out as champion would get a massive reaction like Ripley did at EC.

[nisidhe]

Mar 19, 2024 13:11:10 GMT -5 froggyfrog said:

Damian Priest cashing in MITB a minute after Cody wins would be the funniest way to continue the story tbh

I think WWE would like to leave Philadelphia with all the members of its roster alive and in one piece, thankyouverymuch. I don't think there's much interest in the front office in starting a riot.

Seriously, the cash-in will be on Seth vs Drew, if anything, to send Drew out of the company.

[DZ: WF Legacy]

Mar 19, 2024 14:13:38 GMT -5 ChitownKnight said:

Roman rematch at Backlash, vs AJ at whatever June PPV, vs Orton at MITB (at first Orton goes heel then shakes his hand after the PPV), Summerslam vs the Rock and then loses to Gunther at Bash at Berlin

This would be perfect! An epic reign against the modern legends that doesn't overstay its welcome, dropping it to a younger new main eventer in his home territory. After that there's still an extended thing with Orton they could do, the Cena match, Punk, and many more fresh feeling matches for him, too.

[clc]

Mar 19, 2024 13:11:10 GMT -5 froggyfrog said:

Damian Priest cashing in MITB a minute after Cody wins would be the funniest way to continue the story tbh

I legitimately want this to happen.

I will add that Priest music hits right when Cody is about to hand the belt to his mom. Then we get a nice close up of Cody's face. He knows there's not enough left in him to defend against the cash-in.

They can milk the "finish the story" story for another year.

[HIM]

Summerslam or the Berlin PPV. Afterwards he can do other things until he enters the world title picture again at Wrestlemania 2025.

[Futureraven: Beelzebruv]

Mar 19, 2024 13:24:37 GMT -5 eJm said:

Cody losing to Gunther at SummerSlam sounds good to me.

Get the Roman rematch out of the way to set up future Bloodline stuff, if Drew doesn’t beat Seth (and he probably should), have him be a challenger if his contract is expiring to put him over as he leaves and in the meantime, have Gunther mow fools in retaliation for losing the IC title and kill Cody.

It'd be good to establish big moments can ALSO happen outside WrestleMania.

This is year 2 Cody has to win at WrestleMania, how many years in a row did they not pull the trigger at Mania so there was the collective groan when we all knew "OK, so now we have ANOTHER year of this to get through"

We could do with a few big moments outside Mania for a while.

[eJm]

Mar 19, 2024 16:38:58 GMT -5 Futureraven: Beelzebruv said:

Mar 19, 2024 13:24:37 GMT -5 eJm said:

Cody losing to Gunther at SummerSlam sounds good to me.

Get the Roman rematch out of the way to set up future Bloodline stuff, if Drew doesn’t beat Seth (and he probably should), have him be a challenger if his contract is expiring to put him over as he leaves and in the meantime, have Gunther mow fools in retaliation for losing the IC title and kill Cody.

It'd be good to establish big moments can ALSO happen outside WrestleMania.

This is year 2 Cody has to win at WrestleMania, how many years in a row did they not pull the trigger at Mania so there was the collective groan when we all knew "OK, so now we have ANOTHER year of this to get through"

We could do with a few big moments outside Mania for a while.

Yeah, honestly, Cody doesn’t even need the belt that long but him winning should be enough to springboard to future stuff. Like, he’d be the guy where a Brock style squash would work for him because he can come back and either dethrone Gunther at a future show or have him take another pathway to get to him through people who have a grudge (some of the remains of the beaten Bloodline for example).

It especially makes sense if you’re going to constantly book stadium shows now, you can’t have everything happen at ‘Mania when you expect people to be paying slightly less for a Money in the Bank or whatever else.

[krozor]

I'd like Gunther to get at least one solid, short feud in where he's not a champion before he goes for Cody's title, just to open things up for him a little and see what he has. Could be a feud around a question of character or something. Something personal just to mix things up before you put the next belt on him to give him a break as eternal champion.

For Cody, Orton as the first big feud of his title reign makes the most sense. There's history there. With Orton, you can use crowd reaction to see how far heel you want him to lean, because Randy can always snap on a dime, or do something terrible and then just kind of laugh it off with "Hey man, you know how I am, I have Intermittent Explosive Disorder and a snake tells me what to do inside my brain, haha!" reaction. I like the Priest cash-in tease during Cody's big moment, but Randy makes the save and takes Priest out before he can cash in and Cody mouths "I owe you one" to Randy who says you bet you do or you owe me MORE than one to set up Randy coming for the belt.

Owens would be his next one for me after Orton. Owens in prize fighter mode, in "I'm a family man, too!" mode by motivated by not being born into it like Cody. Alternately, if Jey beats Jimmy, Jey asking for a title shot on the strength of "you were the one who brought me back" and the specter of Jey sliding back to the Bloodline would be OK.

And then the Roman rematch at Summerslam that Cody wins to solidify a strong first reign, set up Roman/Rock for Wrestlemania 41, and leave Cody ready to drop it to Gunther in Berlin.

Cody's second reign after he wins it back could way be more fun. Let him destroy some dork like Kross to re-establish himself first, and you have potential big matches like Punk, Cena, and Drew while you fill things in with good guy Cody giving title shots on TV to young guys who could be the future like Melo, Bron, Montez, and Dragunov to see who might be ready for it. I assume Logan Paul would get a shot in the second reign for better or worse as well, and obviously a Gunther rubber match if they've traded the title already.

So: Something like Cody wins at 40, successfully feuds with Orton, successfully defends vs. Owens or Jey, beats Roman at Summerslam. Gunther drops the IC title shortly after Wrestlemania and has a bridge feud that leads to him setting his sights on Cody after he refocuses - I could even see Gunther winning MITB and calling his shot at Berlin, the honorable approach. Gunther wins it in Berlin.

From there, you either build up to Cody/Gunther II for 41 or do something like Cody shocks everyone and wins it back at the Last Raw Ever in October. Then do Cena/Cody as the first Netflix Raw and give Gunther the rubber match rematch at 41. I'd love to see Gunther go through the Chamber to get back to the belt again vs. winning the Rumble to do it (if Punk's healthy, give him the Rumble to do Punk/Seth or Punk/Drew at Mania).

[uewfigfed]

Mar 19, 2024 13:11:10 GMT -5 froggyfrog said:

Damian Priest cashing in MITB a minute after Cody wins would be the funniest way to continue the story tbh

That’s my brothers current prediction, and not THE worst way to go about it.

[thegame415]

I figure Drew is getting the World title, but honestly, he'd make a ton of sense as one of Cody's first challengers.

Also, in a perfect world, I'd love for Dustin to comeback and attack Cody, basically with the whole story that he's jealous Cody was the one who carried Dusty's legacy as a champion. Cody beats Dustin, who then returns as Goldust to play mind games with him.

[Lizuka #BLM]

I'd have him lose it around SummerSlam.

[jivesoulbrah]

Kevin Owens??? lol no

Gunther is the obvious choice to dethrone Cody, but I say give Cody a decent run first.