Is Cody Rhodes Stuck?

[MrAdam87]

Cody Rhodes is without a doubt one of the shining lights of the younger brigade breaking through to the top in recent times.
Rhodes has used the opportunities he has been given over the past 18-24 months to establish himself not only as a strong young talent on the card but also as a long standing IC Champion worthy of a strong challenger.
As is supposed to be the case, many times with the mid card titles like the IC and US it's a case of giving a young up and comer the chance to shine in all aspects. This is most recently demonstrated by the elevation of Dolph Ziggler to the Main Event scene after a long and successful run as United States Champion.
Unlike Ziggler who had a very over Ryder to drop the title to, Rhodes it seems lacks a worthy contender for his IC title, yet in my opinion is ready for that one last long feud as IC champ in order to drop the title and move up the card.

So my question to you is who can you see being billed as a likely contender to Rhodes' IC title? And furthermore who can you see the belt going to once Rhodes is finally elevated?








____________________
Just my humble opinion

 

[josh4worldchamp]

ur right theres really no one built strong enough 2 take it but i think theyre starting to build justin gabriel to take the title or if not maybe brodus clay since hes on both shows i think that be a good feud or also maybe drew mcintyre if these past weeks make him end up being face like they did with mvp years ago i think any of these could work

 

[Theo Mays]

To the point of Rhodes having no one to drop the title too, you can really contribute that to one of these two things. Either Rhodes has been so much better than those below him that it would need some serious building up to get the title off of him or SD is just lacking some midcard talent. Honestly I've always been a fan of Cody. Right when he first debuted I felt with the proper booking he could be something special. I'm glad to see that is finally coming too.

I'm in no rush to move Rhodes into the main event scene like many. I think keeping him in the upper midcard for awhile would be good for him. It allows him to continue success with the IC championship and it gives WWE the time to build his eventual replacement for carrying the gold. I don't see Rhodes stuck anywhere. I feel he is where he is suppose to be. If I had to pick a name to dethrone Rhodes right now it looks like Justin Gabriel could be that guy. He certainly has the look and can get the people behind him with his flashy offense. The potential is certainly there for Gabriel, it's just a matter of capitalizing.

 

[justinept]

Cody Rhodes isn't stuck due to a lack of competition at the midcard level. He's stuck due to a log jam in the main event scene. Bryan, Big Show, Henry, Orton, Barrett and Shaemus are currently holding down the fort a top the SmackDown! roster. There's no need to place Rhodes in that scene because he'd get lost in the shuffle. It's better for him right now to stand out at the midcard level.

Rhodes's time will come, though - and when it does, it won't matter if there's someone "ready" to take his title. If there's no one ready, the WWE will just give it to someone with a body builder look ... or some up-and-coming face that gets a decent reaction from the crowd.

 

[Rulk25]

Not at all....I mean would it be so bad if they followed through with Cody's threat...to be the first guy since the Warrior to hod both titles at once

 

[juggalotus]

I'm probably going to get some serious hate for saying this, but I don't see why everyone is so gaga over Rhodes. I wouldn't say I dislike Rhodes or anything like that its just...I've never really found him very interesting or believable. He just looks kind of scrawny and boring, he doesn't stand out much to me. That's his character not his in ring work mind you. Last Sunday at the Rumble was one of the first times that he caught my interest in a long time.
As for the original point of the post, its kind of hard to tell right now who would be a credible contender to the title. He's only had a handful of title defenses right? Off the top of my head I can only think of a few title matches between him and Jackson, Dibiase, and Booker. I kind of wish he would stop focusing on the WHC right now and focus on having a few memorable feuds in the upper midcard. He seems to be starting a feud with Justin Gabriel so we'll so where that goes from here.

 

[vampirek]

Cody Rhodes isn't stuck due to a lack of competition at the midcard level. He's stuck due to a log jam in the main event scene. Bryan, Big Show, Henry, Orton, Barrett and Shaemus are currently holding down the fort a top the SmackDown! roster. There's no need to place Rhodes in that scene because he'd get lost in the shuffle. It's better for him right now to stand out at the midcard level.

Rhodes's time will come, though - and when it does, it won't matter if there's someone "ready" to take his title. If there's no one ready, the WWE will just give it to someone with a body builder look ... or some up-and-coming face that gets a decent reaction from the crowd.

It'll go to Drew McIntyre in the coming months, the rehash of the MVP losing streak will come full circle when Drew upsets the odds and end his losing streak by winning the IC title. From that point however they shouldn't put Cody in the World Title scene, jumping the gun a bit there and like with Swagger and Dolph, you can push them too early. Have Cody continue to go after the IC title, win it back and drop it back to Drew. By which time the landscape of the rosters would have changed again. The IC title will be better because of it as will Drew and Cody. Cody lacks title feuds and thats mainly because credible challengers, its hardily been the best run for a champion.

 

[Tyler44]

There's just something about Cody Rhodes I will never like. It combines with his actual appearance as he's way too small to be taken seriously, and the fact I find him extremely boring and mediocre. And the reason he has nobody to face is because WWE's star power and talent is terrible. The main event scene is nothing special, and the mid-card is even more embarrassing.

You think I'm joking? Think about the Royal Rumble. How many superstars in that match could you even take seriously winning in that odyssey of a match? My count was 4 (Orton, Jericho, Big Show, Sheamus). Everyone else (the mid-card) I could just not see winning. The Miz? Who cares. He's been nothing special for 2 years now. Ziggler or Swagger? Ziggler was in the title match, and I still do not take him seriously. Kofi, Khali, Ricardo, Jinder Mahal, Alex Riley, Justin Gabriel, Primo, Epico, Santino, Hunico, Uso, Otunga? That is your mid-card ladies and gentleman. Impressive, right?

 

[Richard Blonoff]

I think they are doing him a huge favor not rushing him to the main event scene. He has made the IC title interesting, he had a good feud with Booker and now one shaping up with both Gabriel and potentially his brother. His mic skills are getting better and they finally took that mask off him which I hated personally.

The main event scene of both Raw and Smackdown are a bit cluttered right now and even the loser of a feud with Rhodes could get some momentum so I think they should keep the belt on him until at least Mania.

If they want to put him in a feud with Golddust at Mania I would buy that but I wouldn't be opposed if they wanted to give him some main event looks like potentially putting him into the EC. Of course not have him win but it would be interesting imo

 

[Brahma Bull]

I think he'll drop the title after mania and after the draft. So it very well could be Ryder who takes the title off him. It could be any midcarder on the entire roster even. Hell, it might even be Ziggler if they do a triple threat or something like that. It may even be a returning Rey Mysterio since he can do both the main event and mid card. Who do I see it being though? I actually think it could be Drew Mcyinter as well. His current string of loses could turn him face (MVP), and I could see a feud starting where Rhodes says that Mcyintire (I dont know how its spelled) was dead weight when they tagged together and he is just a loser now. In fact, now that I think of it, I think thats how Drew will end up turning face. Over Rhodes.

And if they do Goldust vs Rhodes title vs career, there is a chance of Goldust winning. I think Goldust would want to put his brother over (WWE too) but you never know with the wwe.

 

[BizzarroNavarro]

I gotta say I used to haate Cody Rhodes but over the past year he really won me over as a fan, now im not crazy about him but I do like him. I'd wanna see him hold on to the IC belt for even longer and then id want him eventually win the World Heavyweight title so he can carry both around, then eventually lose them both somehow on one night, and have it drive him crazy and change his character up again from there

 

[WJDwjdWJDwjd]

Cody is in an extremely unique position. He is the premier midcard guy in the company. I think of other guys like Dolph and Barrett as being main event guys. They have been in high profile feuds for World Titles and have gotten over with the crowd and been at the focal point of one of the shows. Cody is definitely the next guy to break in. This however is not the unique position I was talking about though.

You may hear that some midcarders and main eventers NEED a title to be relevant. I just want to say that right now, Cody doesn't need the IC title. The IC title needs Cody. It's finally relevant again and if it gets dropped to ANYONE, it will become irrelevant again. Cody has brought focus, prestige and actually takes pride in carrying such a historic title that has been carried by Hall of Famers, World Champions, Legends and household names. He hasn't seemingly had a real feud over the title yet though. There needs to be more people to feud with Cody over the IC title. That belt needs Cody in order to create feuds that people will care about. Because people care about Cody, people care about the IC title again. We just need another reason to care about why the IC title is still around other than it's around the waist of a future World Champ, Main Eventer, and son of a legend. When that happens, that's when Cody can move on to bigger and better things.

 

[Raiden46]

Given how both Cody and Miz carried the Royal Rumble this year, here's an interesting thought. Why not have Rhodes and Miz feud over the title? Let's be honest, Miz won't be winning the WWE title anytime soon; not with the likes of guys like Punk, Cena, Ziggler, etc. I enjoyed watching Rhodes/Miz in the Rumble and think they could carry a feud well together. Only problem would be that one of them has to turn face. If I had to turn one of them face, I'd say Miz. Rhodes isn't quite over enough (getting enough heat) with fans IMO to go face yet.

 

[Raiden46]

There's just something about Cody Rhodes I will never like. It combines with his actual appearance as he's way too small to be taken seriously, and the fact I find him extremely boring and mediocre. And the reason he has nobody to face is because WWE's star power and talent is terrible. The main event scene is nothing special, and the mid-card is even more embarrassing.

You think I'm joking? Think about the Royal Rumble. How many superstars in that match could you even take seriously winning in that odyssey of a match? My count was 4 (Orton, Jericho, Big Show, Sheamus). Everyone else (the mid-card) I could just not see winning. The Miz? Who cares. He's been nothing special for 2 years now. Ziggler or Swagger? Ziggler was in the title match, and I still do not take him seriously. Kofi, Khali, Ricardo, Jinder Mahal, Alex Riley, Justin Gabriel, Primo, Epico, Santino, Hunico, Uso, Otunga? That is your mid-card ladies and gentleman. Impressive, right?

The one thing I don't like about Cody is his ring attire. He always looks like he is wearing a pair of tightie whities. He looked even more childish without knee pads. Fortunately he wears them now, but he needs to change his ring attire in all honesty.

 

[Uproar]

I've never liked him. Nothing personal, but between him and ted i am just not a fan of either of them, i'm not sure if its how they started or where they are going, and this is not a favouritism with others over them.

So where he is going for success right now, is nowhere, bringing Dustin in to this as much as i prefer him, i feel is not going to work well. Cody needs to keep his heel attitude but change his look, i know heels generally are the smaller superstars who break through using dirty tactics which solidifies them as heels. However if maybe not a huge bulk up but more of a mean look is needed for him in all honesty, then i will start to buy him as a heel. Otherwise i've got not care for him as a superstar.

 

[mrfantastic111]

Cody Rhodes Vs. Booker T was a memorable feud. Sure, it wasn't 'Rock/Austin' memorable, or 'Cena/Edge' memorable, but in terms of being a stand out of 2011, it was definitely up there. It was the first time in a long time that the feud made the IC title seem important. Both superstars showed how much they wanted it each week: Booker T was the legend who wanted to prove that he still had what it takes to be a champion; and Rhodes continued to show that he would take himself to the limit to secure his championship. Booker T really elevated Cody, as well as elevated the IC title. He did it the way that it should of been done.

Another stand out feud was Ziggler/Kofi. They fought back and forth for the IC and later the US title. Those two went back and forth every week to prove themselves, and although they weren't as big as they are now, their hard work proved to present them as one of the biggest midcard rivals of the past five years. These guys proved that you don't need to be a huge star to create a great rivalry!

 

[Workrate]

I think he's certainly stuck, but it wouldn't be hard to fix. Booking-wise, it just makes sense to get back to a point where the two midcard titles matter. I understand that in reality, the goal is and always will be to win one of the world championships. But there was a time when segments of the roster gunned specifically for the Intercontinental title and that needs to come back. These days it seems feuds are built first on the people involved -- i.e. no one can feud with Cody because they want the title, they feud with Cody because they have a personal vendetta against him. The same applied to Dolph Ziggler's US title reign, for the most part.

But I think the time has long since come where there needs to be an impetus placed on having guys openly gun for those titles. You mean to tell me that Drew McIntyre, Kofi Kingston, Jinder Mahal, Mason Ryan, and so on are better off having fringe "feuds" that last two weeks than actively pursuing the title? They don't have to WIN the thing. But simply having guys WANT the belt elevates not just the title, but the champion. It's a way to boost Cody's rep even more by showing that he's a fighting champion and a holder of a title that is actively desired by a large part of the roster.

 

[ThinkinSmart]

Rhodes doesn't need to drop the title. His character is trying to bring back prestige to it and thats exactly what WWE is doing. Dont expect your typical mid card title situation here. Rhodes is going to have that title for a good long time. Lack of competition is that they dont know what they want to do with Golddust yet, or believe you me he would have had a match at the Rumble and would be in a bigger feud now. They dont want him to drop the belt in the typical fashion, they want him to carry it and elevate it as high as wit will go in the fans eyes to try and give prestige to a title that was once worth so much and now is worth nothing. The fact you're making threads about when hell finally drop the IC title proves its worth.

 

[y2grae]

Cody Rhodes Vs. Booker T was a memorable feud. Sure, it wasn't 'Rock/Austin' memorable, or 'Cena/Edge' memorable, but in terms of being a stand out of 2011, it was definitely up there. It was the first time in a long time that the feud made the IC title seem important. Both superstars showed how much they wanted it each week: Booker T was the legend who wanted to prove that he still had what it takes to be a champion; and Rhodes continued to show that he would take himself to the limit to secure his championship. Booker T really elevated Cody, as well as elevated the IC title. He did it the way that it should of been done.

Sure you may feel this, however I felt this was more rushed than the E normally does for a plotline and did nothing for the title. I really didnt feel it did any good for anyone except the viewer, as we had to listen to less of Bookah's god awful commentary. Really, please take the mic off him.

I will admit the booker v benoit best of 7 series a few years ago was dull, but it was a proper length feud/rivalry.

Booker was last relevant for the austin/booker feud, and since then has been a joke booking 99% of the time.

The only reason for him in the last few years of appearances has been for a spin-a-roonie.....dont even start me on that. Anyway, back to Rhodes.....

Cody (as stated by a few here now) needs to either:
1) bulk up a bit
2) mean up a bit
3) become dirtier in ring - more win by cheating.

Like Miz,they just aren't convincing in the "could beat someone up" look. Not stating we need bodybuilders, but when you have a small physique, you at least need an edge. Daniel Bryan with his submissions is almost a perfect example of this....

 

[Mustang Sally]

It's interesting how many of us put Cody Rhodes, Jack Swagger & Dolph Ziggler in the same boat. They are the 'tweeners, not in good guy/bad guy attitude, but in the fact they're obviously being groomed for main event status even as they operate mostly in the mid-card. Plainly, there is a lot of disagreement on this forum as to whether or not they deserve to be at the top. It's all just differences of opinion and won't make a whit's worth of difference to the company, but WWE needs more main eventers and, for better or worse, these are the guys they're looking to push.

Jack Swagger had an early run at holding the title (real early!) and it didn't work out very well. If any of these three guys is stuck, it's him, in that management knows he's risen about as high as he can. Not to say there's no place for him; we see plenty of Swagger and he might be content staying at his current level. He's involved in angles and occasionally has matches against top guys.

Dolph is bring pushed to the moon; you can't turn to either brand and not see him. The company has pushed him so hard you figure he'll either win the championship or hit the wall. The way things have been going, I figured he'd be the champ by now.....with his hard work and the company solidly behind him, it seems as if his time has come. Instead, he's taken it on the chin the past two weeks from Punk, Orton and Kharma, for heaven's sake! Has Dolph's push stalled? Or is he being a good soldier with the company's promise that he'll win the title very soon?

That leaves Cody Rhodes. When he first came to WWE, I thought we were seeing a clear case of nepotism. While Cody's big brother was playing the anti-Dusty with his unique gimmick, I guessed Cody would be following his Dad's bootsteps and winning Bunkhouse Stampede matches before long.

Instead, he's become his own man, not let his body weight balloon.... and has carved out a reputation for himself. Earlier, I criticized him for being bland despite being given the choicest programs to run with. But, as he's improved his body, he's become sharper in his delivery, too. Now, we see emotion and substance coming from him......and since the company is definitely in his corner, he can go anywhere he likes. I don't think he's stuck; he operates in the high mid-card, yet occasionally faces off against top guys like Randy Orton and looks good doing it.

For Cody, it's just a matter of time, and given his youth, he's got plenty of that.

 

[Pedigree1]

I think for now Rhodes is stuck where hes at! Major traffic jam main event wise. Orton Sheamus Henry Bryan show i mean thats alot of people in the main event scene. I dont even know how long Rhodes has held the title for could someone PM me on this one please? I find Cody exciting hes believable as a crazy person right now and really he isnt that small!! Dude is a solid 220 pounds of muscle. I hope cody wins the world title or wwe title in the near future!! So yes for now Cody is stuck where hes at its unfortunate that Smackdown really has no mid card talent!! Gabriel Come on i dont believe it wasnt he a jobber not too long ago and now im supposed to take him as a threat? Funkasarus possibly the one guy who could take the title off of cody but too soon right now to bring that up!! Brodeus character is barely a month old!!

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

Due to the long line of main eventers on Smackdown and the lack of a credible challenger for his IC title, I expect Cody to be stuck for a while with the IC title. He has been performing on a level much higher than the last two or three IC champions for a while now and would have moved up the card had it not been for the reasons I just mentioned.

I guess it will be either Drew McIntyre or Brodus Clay who will take title from Rhodes but it will take a while. Drew seems to be undergoing a slow face turn and Brodus seems to be doing nothing but squash jobbers around. Now, that could lead to a match against Cody but taking the title off Cody would not do anything for anyone at this point. I'd like it to be Drew though, because of the clash of the characters, if nothing else. Cody is cocky and psychotic and Drew, once he turns face, will be the complete opposite of cocky. It will be almost like wrestling his past self for Drew.

Or, if a vacancy arises suddenly, you can have Cody drop the title to Mysterio and move up the main event. Mysterio is the man for all seasons and all titles.

 

[Skullomania]

The problem with the current WWE product sometimes is that they succeed in developing one midcarder, but the rest of the midcard fall by the wayside. It's as if they focus all of their strong booking on a midcarder, such as Rhodes, but other guys such as Gabriel or Dibiase are pushed but ultimately forgotten. So none of the other guys end up looking like a legit threat to Rhodes.

Another problem is that Rhodes is being booked as too dominant. A heel like Rhodes, as talented as he is, shouldn't be winning with nothing but clean wins, especially against a powerhouse like Ezekiel Jackson. It's totally unrealistic. I know this is professional wrestling, but come on. Rhodes needs to be a bit more coniving and sneaky. Sure, give him clean wins, but don't give him nothing but clean wins as the WWE has done. Because if Rhodes beats the rest of the midcard clean every match, who will seem like a legit threat to him? Nobody.

 

[Workrate]

Dolph is bring pushed to the moon; you can't turn to either brand and not see him. The company has pushed him so hard you figure he'll either win the championship or hit the wall. The way things have been going, I figured he'd be the champ by now.....with his hard work and the company solidly behind him, it seems as if his time has come. Instead, he's taken it on the chin the past two weeks from Punk, Orton and Kharma, for heaven's sake! Has Dolph's push stalled? Or is he being a good soldier with the company's promise that he'll win the title very soon?

My first instinct after CM Punk effectively beat him four times at the Rumble and then he got whipped up on by Kharma was, "man, who'd he piss off?" But in thinking about it more, I don't believe his push has stalled at all. He may even win the Chamber match. I think it's more a case of two things: (one) he's being groomed for a run, and (two) they needed someone to have feud over the title not named Cena and Del Rio has been injured/ineffective.

My expectation all along regarding Dolph was that he'd win a world title but not until after WrestleMania. And I think the same applies to Cody. It's impossible to grade guys and the status of their pushes solely on world championships. Stone Cold Steve Austin, for instance, was pushed to the moon even without winning a world title. They built up to that over time.

 

[BigRedPunk]

The three people that make the most sense right now speaking logically are Justin Gabriel (who really does deserve it), Ezekiel Jackson (If the report that he is getting another push is true) or Brodus Clay considering he shifts between both shows.