During the recent Elimination Chamber PLE, Randy Orton pinned Cody Rhodes with an RKO Outta Nowhere to earn a shot at the Undisputed WWE Championship at WrestleMania.
Drew McIntyre defended the title against the American Nightmare during Friday's SmackDown, with Rhodes regaining the title to set up what, for many fans, is a long-overdue clash between him and his former mentor.
Still, throw Jacob Fatu into the mix, and many fans are convinced that this is leading to a Fatal 4-Way match at the Show of Shows (while it's still possible, the rumour mill points to WWE sticking with Orton vs. Rhodes and McIntyre vs. Fatu in two singles bouts).
It's now been revealed by PWInsider.com that one of WWE's early creative discussions saw McIntyre scheduled to defend the Undisputed WWE Championship against Rhodes in a Hell in a Cell match at WrestleMania. That would have served as a definitive end to their rivalry, with the classic stipulation no doubt meant to serve as a major centrepiece at the Show of Shows.
McIntyre had a 57-day reign as champion, and his beating Rhodes a few months ago in Berlin certainly added a few interesting bumps on the Road to WrestleMania.
Not everyone is happy with Rhodes holding the title again, and during a recent edition of his podcast, the three-time WWE Champion responded to Roman Reigns claiming he's a "politician" backstage:
"Roman Reigns called me a politician once. And I remember thinking, I’m not mad at that. I grew up in the business. Everyone is [a politician], to a degree. But to me, there’s politics, there’s posturing, and then there’s snaking, and backstabbing. I think a lot of guys on our modern roster are straight up. This is what I think is better. This is what I think isn’t. Let’s talk about it. Someone’s making a decision, but the opinion’s been weighed."
" Because you can smell when you get around the ones today that are like, ‘This is gonna be really good for you.’ And you can already tell like, no it’s not! I can tell this isn’t even for me. No. I tell the kids at the school all the time. Every day is a little battle. There’s something that’s against you every day. It could be the smallest of things, the order of entrances. All you got to do is weigh your opinion.
"Someone else is making the call, but if you weigh your opinion, it’s far better than if you’re stewing and getting angry about it as you go. And then you build it up."
Check out a new promo for Rhodes vs. Orton below (this further dismisses the notion that McIntyre and Fatu will be added to the match).