Who Is Fitting to Take the IC Championship From Cody Rhodes?

[lil bitch Kid]

That wouldn't be a bad route to go, really. The problem with it is that it's essentially Orton't legend killer gimmick with Jericho vs the legends from a few years back. IT'S BEEN DONE. They do have to put a unique spin to it, and honestly, I'm not sure how that happens on this one. I think with Ted being injured now, it'd be a good way to bring him back in a new role. I think the Fortunate Sons thing would be a good way to go. He could lead the group with Richie Steamboat and either Primo/Epico or the Uso's.

 

[#hamler]

Unlike Hamily Guy, I don't think T_d D_B__s_ has done enough to get back his vowels and his charisma from wherever he left them;

Ted has plenty of charisma at the moment, more so than he did before. His current tailgate gimmick is actually working a bit. Like I said, on Friday he was solidly over. If I noticed this, I'm sure the WWE officials and higher ups did to. Why wouldn't you capitalize off of that and push Ted DiBiase? Like Rhodes, the Intercontinental Championship could eventually help elevate DiBiase and possibly get more over with the fans. Seems logical.

Santino Marella

to become the next IC champion.

And why not? Santino's one of the most over faces in the roster despite (or because of) being a comedy jobber and two-time IC champion himself, with a memorable second reign while performing as a comedy heel with his then-(kayfabe?)girlfriend Beth Phoenix and vainly shooting for the moon and trying to break the Honky Tonk Man's record. Oh, there's the slight problem of Santino and Cody not being at cross hairs, but if creative puts their asses to it (and by the grace of Santino's golden mouth) a believable feud between the two can be initiated, ending with Cody finally losing the strap later this year

Why oh why would the WWE do this to one of their most promising future stars? The thought of having Santino in a proper but still serious feud is laughable. Having a comedy superstar who's mainly there to make me laugh go over Cody in a feud, who's ready for the main event, is only going to hurt Rhodes in the long run. Why make the switch? Ted DiBiase at least has a serious gimmick. Ted DiBiase at least can look like a serious threat when wrestling for the Intercontinental Championship. It will take a little build up for Ted but it would take huge amounts of build up to get Santino to be a serious threat to Cody's title.

I think with Ted being injured now, it'd be a good way to bring him back in a new role.

He was just on Smackdown.

 

[jeritroll94]

I have a feeling we are going to see Cody with the title for another good few months. Since bringing back the classic belt, he has made it once again prestigious and I think he is having the best IC title run since Orton in 2003/04. If anyone should beat Cody, it would probably have to be Ted DiBiase. Both are extremely talented and I have rated both of them since before their days in Legacy. I think they should build Ted some momentum over the next few months and put him on a win streak and then by about June, he should be ready to continue the IC title's prestige.

But once Cody does finally lose the belt, expect him to fly into the world title picture. I predict that Cody will become a world champion this year and I reckon it would be a great title run as well.

 

[The 1-2-3 Killam]

Personally I'm not a fan of Cody dropping the title at all. Rhodes is a "true" Intercontinental champion, the like of which we haven't seen in a very long time. When you look at a lot of champions, it's easy to say "oh, they have the belt because it's easy to book title matches, and they have nothing going on right now." It's a transitional thing a lot of times, and more often than not we're subjected to filler champions because guys like Jack Swagger, Kofi Kingston, and Ezekiel Jackson bring nothing new or original to the belts. It's a really boring game of hot-potato, both for the stars and the championship in question.

Rhodes changes that. Ever since he debuted that brand new IC title belt, he felt important as its holder. It finally feels like HIS belt, and he talks about HIS championship. I'd love to see them focus more on the belt, but just having it around his waste means a lot more than just about any other guy on the roster. Cody looks like a mid-card champion, he acts like a mid-card champion... I think he's the perfect fit for whatever the WWE wants an IC champ to look like!

Now, if we're talking hypothetically, and there HAS to be a person to take the belt off him in the near future... I like Killjoy's idea of it being Mark Henry. The fact that he's a recent World Champion makes the transition seem equally important, and no value is lost in the exchange between Rhodes and Henry. It makes the belt look better, because a former World champ is now holding it. Plus, who in the mid-card is ever going to beat Mark Henry? It would be interesting to see him carry the title and to build up competitors to take it from him.

The key word is value. THere has got to be something of value in the exchange of champions. Why put it on DiBiase? To make him look better? What worth does that bring to the title, or to the product as a whole? Justin Gabriel is exciting, but where is the draw in that switch? Somebody like Mark Henry makes perfect sense. A returning Rey Mysterio makes a lot of sense, if they decided to move him back to Smackdown. Somebody that has history, the fans know, and can continue carrying on the legacy that Cody Rhodes has started to rebuild.

 

[Ellye]

The idea of Mark Henry getting the belt (some months down the road, Cody should still hold that title for quite a while) is phenomenal.

It maintains the credibility and prestige that Rhodes bought to the title. We've seem how much Mark Henry can put a title over, so it's safe to say he would also be a fantastic title holder for the IC.

This would have the side-effect of solidifying the Intercontinental Belt as a Upper Midcard belt instead of a "mid-midcard" belt, which I believe is a good thing (we already have the US Champion for that, anyway).

Rey Mysterio would be just as good, too. I'm not a big fan of him, personally, but he's extremely over and works well as a upper midcarder.

 

[StevieJ]

Now that Mysterio is mentioned I can see him keeping the IC championship in high regards, I didn't think of him at first. Nor Sheamus I think, both of these guys has what it takes, Rey more so, but whatever happens, it better not happen till Summerslsam or afterwards.

Has anyone stopped to think about why we love Rhodes so much?

 

[Jessie Lynn DivaGirl]

Honestly, I think he should keep it for a wile but if he HAD to ose it to someone I'd have to go with Justin Gabriel. They've been really building up a heat between him and Cody for the past few weeks and they're really showing how good of a wrestler he is. As someone said earlier, his mic skills have improved ever so slightly but it's showing. Plus the crowd reconizes him as a face and likes him. I've never really seen him in a skipable match before because his quickness and agility reminds you of a hockey game: It moves so fast you want to see if it ever slows down really. If not Justin then Drew McIntyre because that guy has sunk so low it's not even funny to joke about.

Probable: Justin Gabriel
Long Shot: Drew McIntyre

Tho can we PLEASE drop the damn South African Werewolf gimmik? Sure, he's a hunk with the beard but don't encourage him to keep it! It's driving me insane!

 

[Raiden46]

I don't think Cody should drop the belt anytime soon, or even move into the main event yet. Aside from the obvious logjam atop WWE right now, as you already pointed out the IC title needs relevance again and Cody will need competition to make that happen. I'd say give him another year before pushing him up to the top.

The more I think about it, I think Cody Rhodes challenging for the Honky Tonk Man's record as the longest reigning IC champion may be a necessity for the belt now. Think about how worthless the title was before Cody got it and where it has gotten to now. If Rhodes were to hold the belt for 1.5 years, the IC title would instantly be restored to its former glory and then some.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Cody should hold onto the Intercontinental Championship a little longer. Long enough for them to finish building up the one guy who deserves to take it from him more than any other right now. I'm talking about Ted Dibiase. They have history stemming back to Legacy and Team Priceless. Ted has been getting a better push recently and has gained back some of the momentum that he lost in the ill-fated Million Dollar Championship run. Cody can get a few more feud victories to his name before he faces Ted again.

The two of them already feuded last year, but Ted was still going nowhere at the time. Now that he is being built up it would make sense for him to emerge victorious. Cody is a heel, so it's obvious that a face needs to be the one to dethrone him. Who else could it be but Ted? Gabriel would be less believable in defeating Cody right now. Zeke sure shouldn't. I rarely agree with having the guy a champion won the title from be the guy to end the reign. Cody will be ready soon to move on to bigger and better things, they should let Ted end the reign because it will free up Cody to try upper card feuds and holding onto the Intercontinental Championship is just the thing that Ted needs to take the next step in gaining more momentum going forward. Look at what it did for Cody, after all.

 

[Poop Master Flex]

To be perfectly honest I think the best person to take the IC title from Cody Rhodes would actually be Kharma.

Some may say losing to a girl is humiliating but Kharma would actually be a believable IC champion and could easily hang with the top men in the company. Also a storyline between both Cody Rhodes and Kharma could actually be quite intriguing with Cody being the "dashing" one and it plays into Kharma's debut from last year well, instead of going against girls she goes against one of the pretty boy guys.

I think a program between those 2 would be a good way to go and Cody losing to Kharma wouldn't hurt him in any way, it would get the title off him, and it would help set him up for a run in the main event since he is a good pick for someone to go to that next level.

Kharma is more over than most of the mid card guys on the roster anyways so why not? Not only that it wouldn't waste the title change on someone who isn't going to do anything with it like Justin Gabriel (not popular or charismatic enough to be IC champ) or Wade Barrett (a IC title reign for Barrett would be a step back).

I think the reason Rhodes isn't giving up that title is because of those 2 reasons, its either a step back for the next champion or they aren't ready to be the next champion and you don't want Rhodes losing to just anyone with the build he has been given.

Gabriel's not ready, Dibiase is irrelevant, Jackson is irrelevant, Kidd Irrelevant. Barrett would be a step back, Henry a step back, Kharma is actually the best bet when you really think about it.

 

[aboynameddirt]

To be perfectly honest I think the best person to take the IC title from Cody Rhodes would actually be Kharma.

Some may say losing to a girl is humiliating but Kharma would actually be a believable IC champion and could easily hang with the top men in the company. Also a storyline between both Cody Rhodes and Kharma could actually be quite intriguing with Cody being the "dashing" one and it plays into Kharma's debut from last year well, instead of going against girls she goes against one of the pretty boy guys.

I think a program between those 2 would be a good way to go and Cody losing to Kharma wouldn't hurt him in any way, it would get the title off him, and it would help set him up for a run in the main event since he is a good pick for someone to go to that next level.

Kharma is more over than most of the mid card guys on the roster anyways so why not? Not only that it wouldn't waste the title change on someone who isn't going to do anything with it like Justin Gabriel (not popular or charismatic enough to be IC champ) or Wade Barrett (a IC title reign for Barrett would be a step back).

I think the reason Rhodes isn't giving up that title is because of those 2 reasons, its either a step back for the next champion or they aren't ready to be the next champion and you don't want Rhodes losing to just anyone with the build he has been given.

Gabriel's not ready, Dibiase is irrelevant, Jackson is irrelevant, Kidd Irrelevant. Barrett would be a step back, Henry a step back, Kharma is actually the best bet when you really think about it.

This is actually quite an intriguing concept. Having a woman as a champion other than Women's/Diva's hasn't happened in ages. Hell, a legitimate male/female feud hasn't happened in years.

Cody and Kharma are definitely perfect for the role. Cody's snide, "dashing" persona would mesh great with Kharma's insane, dominating character. It could make for some seriously believable animosity between the two. Have Kharma in constant pursuit of Cody, tormenting him phsyically and mentally. Cody, living in fear of Kharma, eventually becomes frustrated and snaps, showing a mean streak.

The only issue I see with this is that if Kharma takes the IC Title and Cody moves on, not retaining, where does Kharma go from there? Who steps up to give Kharma a new contender? I'm not sure if anyone else makes sense.

 

[Raiden46]

This is actually quite an intriguing concept. Having a woman as a champion other than Women's/Diva's hasn't happened in ages. Hell, a legitimate male/female feud hasn't happened in years.

Cody and Kharma are definitely perfect for the role. Cody's snide, "dashing" persona would mesh great with Kharma's insane, dominating character. It could make for some seriously believable animosity between the two. Have Kharma in constant pursuit of Cody, tormenting him phsyically and mentally. Cody, living in fear of Kharma, eventually becomes frustrated and snaps, showing a mean streak.

The only issue I see with this is that if Kharma takes the IC Title and Cody moves on, not retaining, where does Kharma go from there? Who steps up to give Kharma a new contender? I'm not sure if anyone else makes sense.

I like the idea, but why not have Kharma feud with Ziggler? Afterall, Ziggler had a legit gripe with her about being in the rumble. Kharma delivered an impressive implant buster, and was then eliminated by Ziggler.

 

[aboynameddirt]

I like the idea, but why not have Kharma feud with Ziggler? Afterall, Ziggler had a legit gripe with her about being in the rumble. Kharma delivered an impressive implant buster, and was then eliminated by Ziggler.

Because having Ziggler feud with Kharma would be a step backwards for him. He has bigger things to do than worry about Kharma. While Cody Rhodes is up there with Dolph Ziggler, he still needs that last special something to push him forward.