Rhodes and the Viper: A Tale of Potentially Biblical Proportions

[Uncle Sam]

Last Tuesday (er, Friday) night, Ted DiBiase and Randy had a rather solid match. You know the sort. The two'd obviously spent a lot of time in the ring together before, albeit as partners rather than opponents, and had a very crisp, well put together encounter. Ted looked as legitimate a threat as he likely could.

As good as that match was, I couldn't help but imagine how much better it'd be with what I reckon is the clearly superior half of Legacy. Cody Rhodes has been as good as anyone on the roster since he got kneed in the face. His series with Mysterio were the best thing this year this side of Cena/Punk or Christian/Orton. After that, he's been likely the best mainstay of the SmackDown midcard; above Barrett, above Sheamus, above Henry, above Bryan, above Sin Cara.

Pair this with the bearded, great-match-having Randy Orton, with echoes of legacy in the background - Orton's grinning, spasming psychopath versus Rhode's cold, quietly furious psychopath - and, though I'm no scientist, I'd say you've got a winning formula.

So, after Orton slays Henry and Rhodes is done with (presumably) DiBiase, the next program for both is pretty obvious.

 

[Awesome_Miz]

That would be great but don't you think Cody will have to lose the ic title first cause I don't believe the wwe would let Cody be the WHC and IC champion at the same time but you never know.

 

[Uncle Sam]

I'm no fan of title versus title feuds and don't think it'd be necessary at all; however, I don't see why the WWE would be adverse to doing it. I hate to sound like a walking talking cliché, but it's hardly like the IC belt is at all important and is needed in a separate feud to the world title. It's a prop - and not much of one at that.

 

[Ming]

And what a great program it should be.

Randy Orton has been on magnificent form as of late and Rhodes has also. Rhodes like Orton, has also been having consistently good matches recently. This feud has the potential to top Orton/Christian, I say this based on the story it could have, not the match quality.

One thing though; where would that leave the Intercontinental Championship? I know Rhodes has said that he'll bring the prestige back to the title and I for one believe him. He's my favourite mid-carder in the WWE at the moment and in my mind he's the best mid-carder. So if anyone could do it, it'd be him. Obviously if he loses it then it just goes back to where it was, the title could just fall back among the lines of meaningless again, that is unless Henry drops to the mid-card and continues his path of destruction (within the mid-card of course), I really don't believe DiBiase, Barrett or Jackson (not after the title reigns they had) are worthy of it and Sheamus is still main event material.

I believe that this feud with Henry should last at least two months (that sounded painful) before Rhodes elevates to the main event and drops the Intercontinental Championship to somebody worthy like Henry or Bryan.

 

[#hamler]

One would be very foolish to not want this feud to happen. Now that Christian is old news, the next logical (yet interesting) step would be Cody Rhodes. If the WWE is looking to elevate Rhodes into the main event on Smackdown, someone as over as Randy Orton would do just that; not some mediocre feud with Ted Dibiase. As for the Intercontinental Championship, have him drop it to Ted in a month or two and immediately challenge for the World Heavyweight Championship. The background and history these two share, the story writes itself, and what a story it will be.

Pair this with the bearded, great-match-having Randy Orton, with echoes of legacy in the background - Orton's grinning, spasming psychopath versus Rhode's cold, quietly furious psychopath - and, though I'm no scientist, I'd say you've got a winning formula.

This. Very well said.

 

[EchoesFayt242]

I highly agree that this feud needs to happen. Christian is becoming stale in SD and I don't see Mark Henry carrying a long term feud with Randy Orton. A Rhodes, Orton feud will be a nice lengthy feud that will probably last until the Royal Rumble next year. However I would love too see Cody as a WHE. Maybe in a mask VS title match that I would pay to see

 

[James]

I wouldn't mind seeing them post pone this feud until WM 28. Why? As Cody said he could bring prestige to the title and what way to do that than defending it against all challengers? In fact I don't even want him to lose it when it comes down to WM 28.

This year I see a Raw Superstar winning the Rumble. Who? I have no idea but with that being said Cody can win the EC or Tournament to determine who becomes Number contender.

Even though I don't want him to lose the IC title this could give him a lot of fuel and determination to beat Randy. Also make some of the most sadistic promos ever.

He could state that he will get his ultimate revenge by taking what means the most to Randy.

Or seeing how Randy used to the be the Legend Killer. You could have Cody bring back a legend each week endorsing Cody and cheering him on to win. But we overhear Cody on the phone with another legend at the end of the SD before WM.

At WM we see the Cowboy himself backstage with Randy and he even volunteers to accompany him to the ring.

Allow Cody and Randy to have a good 15 minute match but here's the twist. Bob turns on his own son thus allowing Cody to become victorious on the grandest stage of them all.
Cody really gets into Randy's head this way

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

I like it. I think Rhodes keeps the IC title for a while but when he drops it to Ted that's when it'll be elevated. Maybe them Rhodes wins some sort of number 1 contender match.

Rhodes vs Orton could be a Mania main event. They could definately build it up enough to be significant. Rhodes is constantly in character, looks confident on the mic, and knows what he's doing in the ring.

I fully expect Rhodes to elevate Dibiase and make him relevant. If you can elevate guys, you can be champion, because that's what a champion does.

 

[Cracka Jack]

I like how they've been teasing this lately. Rhodes interrupting Orton a week ago, now having his lacky in DiBiase try to him down this week. There's plenty of history between these two, so creative doesn't even need to do anything for the feud; just let the two of them handle everything. Rhodes is rising to the World Heavyweight Championship picture through great work both in the ring and on the mic and looks ready to get a shot soon. I just hope they draw this feud out when it comes; give it Orton-Christian time and it could be feud of the year.

 

[frostbite2819]

i have said this before in the forums and i will say it again: rhodes will go down as a legend. i feel it like i felt it with jericho in 98.
he is constantly working to perfect the craft, and seems to me to be a little bit old school.
a feud with orton on a large scale would be great, but they cant book it like they did the christian feud. he would lose all the credibility he has gained the last year or so.
give him a clean win over orton, let nature take its course.
i feel he is the next young wrestler to be a yearly match of the year candidate.
so let it begin already.

 

[Anger]

I agree with each of the previous post's. An RKO-C.R. feud could potentially be classic. Both men are great at every facet of the game. A long run feud would not only elevate Rhodes-as well as Orton even further-but it would heighten the profile of SD as a brand, and WWE in general. I hope this feud comes to fruition. This could put both men beyond over.

 

[Hunted-RKO]

They have been teasing this fued for a while and a house show this weekend Randy Orton went 1 On 1 with Cody for the WHC which is probly a sign of things to come.This has the potential to be a great fued and is easy to stuff of and has a good story to it,it will be intresting to see what WWE does if Cody is also mean't to be IC champ aswell but i dont see him holding both titles because he aint a big enough superstars.YET.If Cody Rhodes is going to be big then who better on SD! than Randy Orton to put him over? The matches between the too would be epic and the storytelling going on will be great.Personally I think Cody is better on the mic than Randy so he could carry there promo and segments...

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

Earlier this year, when Cody was feudng with Rey Mysterio, I was thinking that Cody was surely going to win the MITB briefcase and would be champion by October. It seems that the WWE have taken a slightly longer path with Cody, which is not neccesarily bad, but it does appear that he will have to go one on one with Randy inevitably.

They have the history, their characters are similar in a way and they are both very good inside the ring. It is their character similarities that intrigue me the most though. Cody is said to have found some intensity after shattering his nose but Randall is the undisputed king when it comes to intensity. Cody has also shown some cowardly heel-like traits recently by hiding behind Ted Dibiase Jr. I would like to see some promos in this feud wherein Cody talks about finding his dark side and intensity after his accident and Randy coming out and shutting him up by saying, "Kid, you know nothing about intensity."

 

[FunKay the Inevitable]

We all know the history these two have. We know how dangerous Rhodes can be and how he also has Ted DiBiase supporting him and what his past is with Orton as well as Rhodes. Fact of the matter is, it's got a classic set-up built into it as well, and it hasn't been rushed like HHH vs. Orton was for example. It's been allowed to grow naturally as both men have had time to change themselves over the last couple of years. A programme heading into one of the big PPV's could see what Rhodes has to offer in the main event scene, especially on SmackDown where they're going to be looking for new opponents for Orton, and with the legacy (pun very much intended) that those two have, it could be a titanic clash when it goes down.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Orton and Rhodes will be a great feud. They have history going all the way back to the Legacy stable in fall 2008. It looks like an Orton VS Rhodes angle will go into full effect after Orton has squashed Henry at Night of Champions. Rhodes should have dropped the IC title by that point so he can move up the card. I would expect Dibiase to get involved somehow and possibly even side with Orton after Cody turned on him last week. It will be interesting to see where this goes. Cody has come a long way and this should be a great feud. Funny how things turn out, most people thought it was going to be Ted standing up to Orton amd receiving a title shot. I'll be looking forward to it because it will be something fresh in the world title scene with plenty of history between the two to work with.