Cody and Zack: New Breed of IC Division?

[mrfantastic111]

You don't see many interesting IC title feuds these days, mainly because the feuds are rushed or they're between boring personalities. I think that if you gave Cody a few months to build up as a powerful IC champ, as well as give Zack Ryder a few months to have consistent mid-card wins and get his gimmick/catch-phrases over, you could have a seriously awesome feud here.

Here is why it would be interesting:

- Both are good story-tellers in the ring (Wrestling as it should be!)

- Both have strong gimmicks (gimmick vs gimmick!)

- The contrasting between their gimmicks would be fun to watch on weekly programming (great promos!)

- It's the kind of feud that the IC division needs to remind the world that the IC title matches are just as entertaining and should be taken as seriously as the world titles (Every division needs their own superstars to carry it, so that you don't skip their matches)

Cody Rhodes has been talking about raising the bar of the IC title back to it's former high standards. Thank god. I've been reading people talking about how the WWE has 'dropped the ball' with Cody, but I think this is one of the best things they could have ever done for him. Cody has a chance to not only build himself properly over a long period of time, but to become one of the better IC champs in recent years. I can see Cody having a reign similar to Randy: long and exciting.

Presumably the WWE will either make Cody the new standard bearer of the mid-card division, or they will give him a long IC title reign to elevate him to the top one day. Either way, what better way to promote Zack Ryder as a formidable IC competitor then to give him a fun feud with one of WWE's brightest?

I wouldn't have this feud for a few months though, as for this to be interesting, both Cody and Ryder should keep up some nice winning streaks for awhile before they finally face each other. I can honestly see Cody becoming the face (not baby face, of course) of the mid-card one day, and I can see Zack taking on a Val Venus type role (Not in terms of gimmick, but that fun/funny baby-face gimmick of the mid-card type way).

Your thoughts?

 

[Sheamus' Suntan]

Cody is without a doubt becoming the new standard bearer and you can see it with the way he carries the IC title. In addition to this, you can SEE the long build they're giving Cody vs Ted which is going to be amazing. What WWE NEED to focus on though is the title, not personal animosity. Build the TITLE to mean something, not have it as a prop for a feud.

Zack could well do VERY well also. The build has been very slow with him and he's made his own name a lot but now that his shirts are selling, he is making the WWE money and with that comes a slow build. They don't want to rush him to main event or he'll lose his appeal. The whole point in his appeal is to turn him INTO WWE's own internet darling.

The two as a feud for the IC title could be phenominal in due time.

 

[wrestlingfanusa]

it could be a great feud but i would see rhodes going over unless ryder ups his game im a big ryder fan i havent jumped on the bandwagon i just think hes funny but i would like to see him get more mic time and become more serious maybe telling us more bout himself while on raw instead of his youtube videos i think he needs a new finisher but as for the ic title its a shame that its just now getting its prestige back or trying to ii remember a great feud back in 04 i think rvd/orton had a great match i think it was on raw for the title u had two contenders or wat u knew would be contenders facing off for the title it was one of the best ic title matches ever on raw for the ic title i think u need to have cody rhodes llead the way against ted jr and other ppl maybe johnny curtiis maybe they step up to challenge for that title also who else wants to see jinder mahal vs cody rhodes and one more note i want to see a real ppv match/feud between mark henry and big zeke not jusst a match where henry squashes him just to build momentum up for his match with orton iif u want to get big zeke over as a monster a feud against henry is the way to go on raw with the us title id like to see fresh faces such as skip sheffield and a returning mason ryan in the us title hunt and btw where the hell is tough enough winner andy leavine im wanting to see him debut and see wat the kid has got

 

[GameOver]

I think any fued involving the IC title, aslong as it gets defended is atleast better then it not being used at all.

Zack, while i don't think he's that great, he's atleast workable and has the crowd behind him far better choice then 1 dimensional i can't speak for shit Zeke. and Cody has gone from strength to strength, i do think it's time to drop the mask that's getting old but otherwise he can really do no wrong atm.

and one can only hope that Ted Dibiase gets back on track and then throw into the mix Dolph Ziggler and you have future players of the company.

There is promise in the upper midcard now, which you couldn't say last year.

 

[ctln4rko]

I would love this feud. Rhodes and Ryder have high spots every week in my Fav Five, so this feud would be wonderful if executed properly. As you said, the so different personalities would make a great verbal feud, while both men's in ring talent would make a awesome in ring feud. I would like to see Cody hold on to the title for a while, build up the prestige, and Zack to really start being booked as a credible superstar, then have them feud over the title, and have Zack win the title so Cody can become a main event player.

 

[xoxo French Kiss xoxo]

Cody Rhodes is on his way to the top, and I personally will be upset if he isn't involved in a WHC match at WM28. He's got all the tools to be a main event player. Rhodes vs Orton on Smackdown was good, Rhodes vs Orton on Raw was better. Rhodes vs Orton at WM28 for the WHC will be a wet dream.

With as horrible as this weeks Raw was, I don't know why there wasn't room for Zack Ryder on the show. I enjoy Ryder and he needs a lot of exposure at this point to keep him over with the live crowds.

I think Zack would make a great addition to the IC or US title scene. I'm not sure why he wasn't thrown into the Fatal-4-way for the US Title at NOC instead of Morrison, he has a 1000x the talent of Morrison, and people actually react to Ryder when he comes to the ring.

They could have cut those three really long and painful in ring speaking segments down by 5-7 minutes to make room for two more matches on Raw.

 

[mikde_]

Im a huge ryder fan but i just cannot take him seriously with his current gimmick and its the perfect kinda schtick to use on the lower card but he needs to find a serious or mean side to his character. I cant take a guy going bald talking about spiking his hair as any threat to anyone so until he ups his game i cant see him going to far but thats a wait and see story.

 

[The Hardcore Kid]

I never really thought of it, but this would be a great feud! I can just imagine Cody giving a serious, brooding promo only for Ryder to interrupt with "Are you serious bro?!". The banter these two could have would be highly entertaining.

Good idea!

 

[BulletVonAwesome]

I was actually discussing an idea with a friend of mine about pumping life into the dwindling mid card divisions,namely ic and us.

My thought process was simple, maximum exposure for the titles a tournament for each belt's no1 contender's spot. Have all under utilised talents in these tournaments, mentioning how important the title is to them, how it's their time etc etc. The usual thing.

have the tournaments awhile apart so ppl don't get over burdened with it all.
start with the IC for example a series of 1st round matches over a few smackdows and raws to get both shows audience following it.

my idea is not just to promote the titles meaning , but to determine the standard and present the talent available. old KoR style. People cheating to win rounds and progressing, having those that were cheated against get retribution next round. and shake up the tournament itself halfway through to keep it exciting.

first round matches. kidd vs mahal, kidd wins by dq when khali chops him

ted against curtis, ted wins clean

barret against slater, wade wins clean

gabes against zeke, zeke wins via submission

jimmy versus brodus, uso wins with double magic thing the bella do

second round is kidd versus ted, ted wins when mahal attacks kidd before the match for costing him

barret against zeke, barret wins with brass knucks

jimmy gets put against curtis slater and gabes fatal 4 way for cheating
with jey banned(by teddy long playa, because he wants a fair tournamet, earn your spot etc etc etc)

curtis takes out uso , slates takes down curtis, gabes knoks slates out and pins curtis. winner gabes.

final .....triple threat, wade ted and gabes ....slater comes down and takes out gabriel, cody comes down tries to hit ted with chair hits barret instead, ted ducks it does his clotheline on cody and pins wade ftw

ted against cody lined up for a title match.
other feuds there could include.

kidd against mahal w/khali, give kidd zeke for back up

curtis and brodus and the uso's

slater and gabes (gabes took slaters win)

barret cody, barret ted, ted cody

not only do you pump life into the title but also have fans seeing somewhat different talent for a few weeks, set new teams and add new faces to the division as a whole.

wait a few weeks and do something similar it the u.s picture with, jo mo bourne kofi miz truth a ri dolph reks hawkins mcgillitunga swagger sheamus etc etc etc.

you could make everybody look stronger by giving wins in feuds resulting from the original tournaments and when a feud dies out they can start the hunt for the title again....

Those are just my thoughts though

 

[mrfantastic111]

@GameOver - The mask is pretty much apart of Cody now, his gimmick works so well because of the mask. It's that 'it' thing that he has which is getting his gimmick over, the mask is such a strange concept that makes people actually believe that he's insane. He's gone too far now to be able to take it off without damaging the gimmick, but I don't think that it should come off anyway.

@French Kiss - WM28 is too soon, WWE need to build him slowly. I do think he could be a WHC one day, but his time is not now. Let him help bring back credibility and excitement to the mid-card first. That way, if he sticks around for longer in the mid-card, there's more of a chance that he'll put over some of the 'weaker' or less over talents before he leaves. I agree that I'd rather watch Zack than Morrison, but 1000x better? That's alittle bit of an overstatement.

@mikde - That's the point of Zack's gimmick, he's a happy-go-lucky baby face. The WWE doesn't need yet another 'serious/aggressive' persona, there are too many and they're all bland and relatively the same. Ryder is taking the role of a Goldust, or a Val Venus, or a Santino Marella, i.e; he's the funny guy! His gimmick is what's getting him over, and it's exactly what the mid-card needs so you don't end up with 3-4 different guys with the same type of persona fighting each other every week.

 

[keehlnate]

LOL, Hopefully the TS doesn't base his thread from "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody"

I don't think Zack Ryder is ready for a title shot to either the IC title or the US title yet. He should be a mid-carder first. WWE is really building him slow, but I believe they have plans for him. But him being a regular on WWE Superstars doesn't help at all. He should be a regular on RAW or Smackdown.

I have a lot of respect for Cody Rhodes. He has a bright future in the WWE. He is an effective heel for now, and he will definitely be one of the main-eventers soon.

 

[macho_boy]

i think cody should go for breaking the honkys record.. not a big fan of honky, i think it is time someone beat the record.. at least longest in the last 10 years i hope

 

[mral82]

1st) FYI: Ryder is RAW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2nd) If the IC title needs prestige back have Cody feud w/ Ted DiBiase jr., William Regal, and finally a feud between Cody and GolDustin cause these 3 would bring back alot of prestige. Cody w/ his current gimmick vs his brother Goldust would be the greatest Sibling rivalry since Bret and Owen of the mid-late 1990's.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Cody and Ryder are two guys that the IC title's division could be built around. They could put on a pretty awesome feud with their massive differences in character type. The promos leading up to the match would have huge potential. Ryder could try to get Rhodes to be less serious while Rhodes could elevate Ryder some in this feud. It is too late to give it a proper build for Night of Champions, but maybe Hell in a Cell? They should wait to do this match because it would be perfect for a PPV and deserves the time to give it a proper build leading up to the match.