Cody Rhodes Achieves Something Of A Milestone

[Jack-Hammer]

In all the stuff going on for the Elimination Chamber and the continuing build to WrestleMania, it slipped my mind that Cody Rhodes has recently garnered something of an accomplishment.

Rhodes has been WWE Intercontinental Champion for 192, soon to be 193, days. As a result, this gives him the 10th longest IC title reign since WrestleMania III:

The Honky Tonk Man: 6/2/87 - 8/29/88 = 454 Days
Mr. Perfect: 11/19/90 - 8/26/91 = 280 Days
The Rock: 12/8/97 - 8/30/98 = 265 Days
Shelton Benjamin: 10/19/04 - 6/20/05 = 244 Days
The Ultimate Warrior: 8/29/88 - 4/2/89 = 216 Days
The Ultimate Warrior: 8/28/89 - 4/1/90 = 216 Days
Randy Orton: 12/14/03 - 7/11/04 = 210 Days
Shawn Michaels: 10/27/92 - 5/17/93 = 202 Days
Razor Ramon: 9/27/93 - 4/13/94 = 198 Days
Cody Rhodes: 8/9/11 - ? = 192 Days

All things considered, it's a pretty major accomplishment for the 26 year old and there doesn't seem to be an end for his current run in sight for the time being. He's lost a little steam in recent weeks, due mostly to the losses he's suffered with Wade Barrett in these tag matches, but I don't think anyone can say with a straight face that Cody Rhodes hasn't been a damn good champion. The title has done a lot for Rhodes and vice versa in my view.

 

[hatehabsforever]

The thing is, there's no ending sight for his IC run in the forseeable future. The Intercontinental Championship is not even defended on every PPV, not by a long shot. And title changes typically don't happen on regular TV or at house shows, unless there's been an injury or a Wellness Policy violation. So it's not too big of a stretch to see his title reign last for several more months. That would put him in the top five a least in terms of length of IC championship reign. Not too shabby for a guy who was considered be the weakest link of the Legacy faction when it was around.

 

[Little Jerry Lawler]

It never mattered to me about how long a title reign is. I highly value what you do with the title and other than feuding with Booker T, he hasn't done much with it. I don't see the IC Title having any more prestige then it did five or even ten years ago. The lack of depth in the midcard has somewhat to do with how long he has held it and if he had a couple of more feuds, then I would be more impressed but currently I'm not. Sorry to be the rain on the Rhodes parade.

 

[JWGunslinger]

As much as I do think it's an impressive milestone I have to agree with Little Jerry on the fact that the state of the midcard roster probably has a bit to do with that. Don't get me wrong I'm a big fan of Rhodes and I love how much he's improved his physique, talking, in ring action and character but when you compare who he's in the mix yet it does take away a bit of the glamour of Cody Rhodes the IC Champion. Look at when Randy Orton held the title, he was in there defending against guys like RVD(and winning it from him) while Cody has the likes of Ezekiel Jackson and Justin Gabriel challenging him. Cody is doing a great job and he's held it a while but even if he passes up other guys in days held I won't be as impressed until he starts getting tougher regular competition.

 

[Big Sexy]

Rhodes has been great since becoming champion and the title means more then it did just because he is so good, but I don't think the length of the reign is impressive because it has barely been defended. He has held the belt almost 200 days but by my count he has only defended it 7 times. Not only that but the only real feud he has had over the title was with Booker T. The prestige of the title may be up but it means nothing if the mid card is still in the shitter. Obviously they want him closer to the main event because that is the next step in his progression but there has to be one or two mid card feuds thrown in there as well otherwise his reign is a waste compared to what it could be. The IC belt needs Rhodes more then Rhodes needs the IC belt.

 

[WrestlingFan97]

The only reason it's been this long is because he barely defends the damn thing. And WWE wonders why their mid-card division is in shambles right now. Maybe if they had the I-C champion actually defend their title more than once in a blue moon they can salvage the divison.

 

[KoC417]

I thought a championship had to be defended at least once every 30 days or the champion would be stripped of the title. Oh yeah I forgot..tat "rule" only applies when convenient.

Either way though it's a less than stellar streak. If he had been defending the belt in and out on and on it would be awesome. Right now it's basically a waist ornament for young Cody..

No disrespect Jack-Hammer but at this point the IC title really isn't getting any recognition because it's NOT DEFENDED consistently. However it can be salvaged. If WWE smartens up and starts having regular title defenses. Could build Cody up as a credible World/WWE Champion threat while giving the IC title the boost it needs. Right now there is really nothing positive except a guy setting a title reign with as few defenses as possible.

 

[justinept]

I like Cody Rhodes. Really, I do. I think he is solid in the ring, and I think he has a good idea of who he is as a character - which is something I can't say for 95% of the roster. As for his title reign, it has been awful. It had a lot of steam early on, but that dried up months ago. In fact, it's at the point where I'm convinced the belt is nothing more than a prop ... because as so many before me have said ... he NEVER defends it.

A champion doesn't bring prestige to a title - and a title doesn't bring prestige to a wrestler. Until some people in the IWC can understand that simple fact, then every year, we're going to have a thread about how the current IC Champ "is bringing prestige back to the belt." I swear, these same things were said about Drew McIntyre in 2009 ... Dolph Ziggler in 2010 ... and Wade Barrett in 2011.

Of course, people forgot about those reigns... they forgot that McIntyre held the title for 161 days and that Ziggler held it for 160 days ... You know why they forgot about those reigns? It's because no one ever challenged them for the belt.

Which brings me to my point. No one remembers how long a guy holds a belt unless it's for a ridiculous period of time (ie. year or longer.) What people remember about title reigns is the challengers, the amount of stars that were trying to take the belt from the champ. Nobody cares that only one of Steve Austin's 6 titles reigns was longer than 3 months or that 6 of The Rock's 7 reigns lasted less than 40 days. What people remember about those two is that they won the belt at a time when 'Taker, Triple H, Foley, Angle, Lesnar, Jericho and a slew of other Hall of Fame wrestlers were challenging them for it.

You can't come close to saying that about Rhodes's IC Title reign.

 

[KoC417]

In all the stuff going on for the Elimination Chamber and the continuing build to WrestleMania, it slipped my mind that Cody Rhodes has recently garnered something of an accomplishment.

Rhodes has been WWE Intercontinental Champion for 192, soon to be 193, days. As a result, this gives him the 10th longest IC title reign since WrestleMania III:

The Honky Tonk Man: 6/2/87 - 8/29/88 = 454 Days
Mr. Perfect: 11/19/90 - 8/26/91 = 280 Days
The Rock: 12/8/97 - 8/30/98 = 265 Days
Shelton Benjamin: 10/19/04 - 6/20/05 = 244 Days
The Ultimate Warrior: 8/29/88 - 4/2/89 = 216 Days
The Ultimate Warrior: 8/28/89 - 4/1/90 = 216 Days
Randy Orton: 12/14/03 - 7/11/04 = 210 Days
Shawn Michaels: 10/27/92 - 5/17/93 = 202 Days
Razor Ramon: 9/27/93 - 4/13/94 = 198 Days
Cody Rhodes: 8/9/11 - ? = 192 Days

All things considered, it's a pretty major accomplishment for the 26 year old and there doesn't seem to be an end for his current run in sight for the time being. He's lost a little steam in recent weeks, due mostly to the losses he's suffered with Wade Barrett in these tag matches, but I don't think anyone can say with a straight face that Cody Rhodes hasn't been a damn good champion. The title has done a lot for Rhodes and vice versa in my view.

All things aside he's been a TERRIBLE champion. He went what 2 months without defending the belt? Then another MONTH without defending it? Then ANOTHER month or 2 without defending it? Add that up. 3 months= 90 days. The other "month or 2" I added I'm unsure of as I was not exactly interested in him..still not really interested in him either. So 90+ days of his "192 days" have been dead space/dead air. No title defense.
If memory serves correctly I count 4 or 5 IC title defenses in 192 days. That's roughly a title defense every oh... 38-42 days give or take. Some champion... I could be wrong it might be 6 defenses.
And who has he beaten?
John Morrison (endeavored)
Big Zeke (not exactly a superstar)
Ole Teddy boy (need I say more)

Cody Rhodes needs to get out there and actively defend his title. I really don't know what television show you've been watching Jack-Hammer but to say Rhodes has been a "damn good champion" is like saying Kane's first championship reign was as impressive as HBK's entire career.

Rhodes is a great athlete. But a great IC champion? Man GOLDUST has more Hardcore Championship reigns than Cody has title defenses...

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

lol it's so funny hearing you guys say that his title reign isn't as impressive because it lacks substance. You DO realize that 90% of matches title holders had back in Honkey's day were squashes right? Like the legitimately didn't have more than a handful of true feuds. So really, it's not any different than Cody now. My how history has a way of making itself look awesome when it really wasn't.

He hasn't been a terrible champion, if you're ******ed you might say 'HE DUZN'T HAVE TEH TITLE DEFENCES!!!!! DUR DUR DUR" but what's the difference between not defending but talking about it and wearing it proud and being generally awesome and squashing some local hack and being boring as shit (Honkey)? Fuckin hate simpletons on here who can't think abstractly.

 

[Twocenter]

Big Zeke (not exactly a superstar)

If he ain't a superstar, what the hell is he?

Cody Rhodes needs to get out there and actively defend his title. I really don't know what television show you've been watching Jack-Hammer but to say Rhodes has been a "damn good champion" is like saying Kane's first championship reign was as impressive as HBK's entire career.

He watches WWE Smackdown and has seen Rhodes defending the title against Ezekiel Jackson, Ted Dibiase, 9 other men in a battle royale, Sheamus, John Morrison, Booker T(twice).

Rhodes is a great athlete. But a great IC champion? Man GOLDUST has more Hardcore Championship reigns than Cody has title defenses...

Razor Ramon had 4 title defenses from October 1993- April 1994.

Honky tonk had about 10 defenses throughout his title reign and his reign was very boring.

Mr. Perfect had about 4 reigns.

IC title was used to elevate guys in the main roster in the attitude era. Ala Rocky and HHH, they defended it quite often but not once in a week or month stuffs.

Now taking all of these into contention, he has had a good reign.

But that's just my 2 cents.

 

[mral82]

A Congrats great thing for Rhodes by keeping it that long. To all you people that thinks he or any champion haven't defended their Championships in 30 days are mistakenly wrong. All championships are defended at House Shows so that counts w/ defenses even if we don't see it on TV or whatnot. Cody nor Jack have credible challengers right now to their brands mid-card title. Prestige would work if Orton decides to go back down the ladder and go after Rhodes. Or if we finally get a meaningful DiBiase-Rhodes 2.0 feud and not the teasing they gave us last year. I hope Dustin and Cody feud as it's been teased for the God Danged longest time and it's getting fustrating.

 

[Existence_is_Futile]

First, i wanna say, Good Job Cody, you deserve it.

Ok, seriously, instead of picking apart Cody and his title reign, can't you people be happy for the kid? You can't defend the title if there is no one to defend it against, and the upper offices haven't said "hey, you're defending the IC title against -insert guy you're gonna beat here-, be ready".

BUT, I am right there saying I would LOVE to see a good feud for Cody. Something leading up to WM, get him to shine on the biggest stage of them all.

But I, for one, am happy for him.

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

I think that he will go even further and maybe even go past Benjamin's 244 day title reign because there is simply no challenger in sight. I mean it's good in some ways and bad in other ways. Cody has performed brilliantly since his Intercontinental Championship win and you can even say that he is much above holding the IC title at this point. His feud against Randy Orton and his performance in the Royal Rumble has really elevated his stock. But for someone to beat him and for it to look believable you need to build up a guy as close as you can to his level and that will probably take a while.

You could say that the IC title has been somewhat of a prop for Cody because his best performances in the last 5-6 months have not been based around defending the IC title but I am not really complaining. I mean what else could have been done? Given the belt to someone like Justin Gabriel so that he could have had a meaningless TV feud with Wade Barrett or someone even worse. Instead they used it to give another feather in the cap of a very talented wrestler. I can live with that.

 

[Pedigree1]

Rhodes has been a fine true champion i knew he has held the title for a bit didnt know it was that long though! To say his reign has been unimpressive is doing him a disservice I feel! Its not codys fault that the midcard talent right now is not what it used to be.

Lets see Teddy is in a feud with Jinder, Zeke really wasnt credible as a champion at all and Jomo is endevored!! I want cody to hold the title for at least a year he is credible as a champion imo and is bringing prestige to the belt. Now to say he will break honkys streak is stretching out a bit but i do think he can be the second longest champion passing the great mr perfect!! This title he has now has done him wonders and vice versa!! Great post jack hammer

 

[Syborgg]

lol it's so funny hearing you guys say that his title reign isn't as impressive because it lacks substance. You DO realize that 90% of matches title holders had back in Honkey's day were squashes right? Like the legitimately didn't have more than a handful of true feuds. So really, it's not any different than Cody now. My how history has a way of making itself look awesome when it really wasn't.

He hasn't been a terrible champion, if you're ******ed you might say 'HE DUZN'T HAVE TEH TITLE DEFENCES!!!!! DUR DUR DUR" but what's the difference between not defending but talking about it and wearing it proud and being generally awesome and squashing some local hack and being boring as shit (Honkey)? Fuckin hate simpletons on here who can't think abstractly.

The only thing your forgetting is that back in the days of Honky Tonk Man every title was defended at every PPV. Granted there were less PPVs, but atleast when there was HTM had to defend his title. They also had Saturday Night's Main Event where it was sometimes defended. The point is, even with less PPVs Honky probably defended it more in his first 200 days than Cody has.

Other than the Booker T. fued, this I.C. title reign is just like the many titleholders before him that just carried the belt around. The only other cool thing he's done was bring in the "vintage" design.

It's never been more clear that they have to unite the mid-card titles, thus retiring the U.S. Championship and make the I.C. title cross-branded which would open it up for more competition. Then WWE Creative has to put some time and effort into some emotionally charged fueds surrounding the belt. Make the fans feel like those guys really want to be Intercontinental Champion. Then once they got that going, they can do the same with the tag belts.

 

[The Brain]

lol it's so funny hearing you guys say that his title reign isn't as impressive because it lacks substance. You DO realize that 90% of matches title holders had back in Honkey's day were squashes right? Like the legitimately didn't have more than a handful of true feuds. So really, it's not any different than Cody now. My how history has a way of making itself look awesome when it really wasn't.

He hasn't been a terrible champion, if you're ******ed you might say 'HE DUZN'T HAVE TEH TITLE DEFENCES!!!!! DUR DUR DUR" but what's the difference between not defending but talking about it and wearing it proud and being generally awesome and squashing some local hack and being boring as shit (Honkey)? Fuckin hate simpletons on here who can't think abstractly.

You make a fair point here but there is one key difference you're overlooking. The IC title was a major focus in Honky's handful of feuds. Steamboat, Savage, and Beefcake wanted to be IC champion. It was a highly coveted title and they wanted to be champion to enjoy all the benefits that came from being champion. Sure there were other storylines in the feuds but the IC title was never put on the backburner like it is now. Cody had a feud with Orton this past fall and the IC title wasn't even mentioned. Cody feuded with Booker but Booker didn't give a damn about the title. Cody is feuding with guys and just happens to be IC champ. Honky feuded with guys because he was IC champ and others wanted his title.

Razor Ramon had 4 title defenses from October 1993- April 1994.

Honky tonk had about 10 defenses throughout his title reign and his reign was very boring.

Mr. Perfect had about 4 reigns.

IC title was used to elevate guys in the main roster in the attitude era. Ala Rocky and HHH, they defended it quite often but not once in a week or month stuffs.

Now taking all of these into contention, he has had a good reign.

But that's just my 2 cents.

Where are you getting these numbers? I'm sure the guys you've listed above had more defenses than you give them credit for. The titles were regularly defended at house shows prior to 1996. They may still be today. Cody might defend his title at a house show three times a week. The difference is nobody knows about it except for the people who go to the show. Even if you didn't attend the show in the late 80s/early 90s you were aware of it. If you watched Superstars or Challenge you would have seen at least two segments entitled the Event Center. During these segments someone, usually Sean Mooney, would hype the upcoming house show in the local town. If you were watching in Philadelphia it would be for the show coming to the Spectrum. If you were in Chicago it would be for the show at the Rosemont Horizon. Even if you didn't go to the show to see the match you spent several weeks hearing about it which gave it a feeling of importance. That doesn't happen anymore so now we only judge a reign by the title defenses we see and those are way too few and far between.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

lol it's so funny hearing you guys say that his title reign isn't as impressive because it lacks substance. You DO realize that 90% of matches title holders had back in Honkey's day were squashes right? Like the legitimately didn't have more than a handful of true feuds. So really, it's not any different than Cody now. My how history has a way of making itself look awesome when it really wasn't.

He hasn't been a terrible champion, if you're ******ed you might say 'HE DUZN'T HAVE TEH TITLE DEFENCES!!!!! DUR DUR DUR" but what's the difference between not defending but talking about it and wearing it proud and being generally awesome and squashing some local hack and being boring as shit (Honkey)? Fuckin hate simpletons on here who can't think abstractly.

I'm so glad you brought this up. It wasn't my intention to imply that Cody Rhodes' current reign was something that'd established a new level of excellence but he's done a great job with what he's been given. I'm glad you aluded to the fact that every match or feud the IC champs of days gone by had weren't epic happenings. Far from it. From what I remember back in the day, the vast majority of the time in which we saw a champion compete on television tended to be the champ beating the snot out of a jobber for 4 or 5 minutes. I know some of us like to believe all the happenings of wrestling back when we were young and innocent were paragons of greatness but that's not how it was, not by a long shot. Just like back in those days, most of the champ's title defenses take place at house shows & ppvs.

The only major differences I see between how Hennig, HBK & The Rock when compared to Cody Rhodes as IC champ is that time has passed and the former are revered as legends while Rhodes is a rising star. Nostalgia sometimes makes things seem to be better, grander and just more epic all around than they actually were. That's not to say that the IC title didn't seem to have more general focus on it back then, but it's nice to see guys like Rhodes & Ziggler are actually given real time with the titles.

 

[TheHeartbreakPunk]

Cody rhodes is probably going to climb up farther in those rankings, because i do not see any change for the ic championship in the future. I wouldnt know who else to give it to. He will definitely have it up until wrestlemania, then lose it after that to someone like ted dibiase, because i think that hes going to be drafted to raw.

 

[Derf]

First off, congrats to Cody for this feat. Regardless of if he defends it or not, this day in age, a long title reign is impressive.

That being said, I'm one of the folks that believes Cody ought to defend the title more. I'll admit, the title has done absolute wonders for Codys career. However, I can't say it works both ways. The longer Cody holds the title, the better he becomes, but the more prestige that wears off the title, unless of course he starts defending it again. A defence at Mania will don wonders, especially if he wins.

 

[MaverickAZ]

so just because you throw a belt on someone and have him not defend it on PPV's for months on end.............all the sudden makes him great?

is that a joke?

i know WWE is scripted, but i would think successful defends and having others put you over in those title matches and the quantity of those would be a better measurement of how "great" a WWE superstar was/is or can be

 

[W_W_F]

It wouldn't surprise me if he surpassed The Rock in days, however I can't see him beating The Honky Tonk Man's record.

 

[Twocenter]

Where are you getting these numbers? I'm sure the guys you've listed above had more defenses than you give them credit for. The titles were regularly defended at house shows prior to 1996.

No. Just talking about PPV's and main shows. I didn't mean to bring the no. of defenses on a house show because Cody Rhodes actually defends it a lot on house shows. Just major ones.

 

[Twocenter]

so just because you throw a belt on someone and have him not defend it on PPV's for months on end.............all the sudden makes him great?

is that a joke?

i know WWE is scripted, but i would think successful defends and having others put you over in those title matches and the quantity of those would be a better measurement of how "great" a WWE superstar was/is or can be

Just like TWJC said," Title defense is not everything." Cody wears that belt and on every shows speaks of being the next dual champion of the WWE. This shows how seriously he treats the IC Title. He even brought the classic IC Title instead of that joke. I always see him giving the reference of his title when he delivers a promo. So he has done a great job as the IC title. Better than Swagger and better than the cousins.

 

[Alastor]

I feel that this reign while lengthy is missing the extra spark to be considered an impressive reign. His best feuds/matches during this reign was against Booker T(an announcer) and Randy Orton (non-title feud). I think Orton hurt Cody's reign by defeating him clean without even considering challenging for the title. Here's hoping Cody and Santino can put a decent programme if they decide to start a feud based on the fact that Santino eliminated him with a rollup during the Elimination Chamber match.