While many fans are expecting a newly-heel John Cena to walk out of WrestleMania 41 with the Undisputed WWE Championship in hand, especially after his series of promos, including one where he claimed he was going to "ruin wrestling," it appears WWE is still setting up contenders for Cody Rhodes.On a recent edition of "Wrestling Observer Radio," Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer discussed the opening segment of "WWE SmackDown" on Friday that saw Rhodes and Randy Orton interrupted by Drew McIntyre.Meltzer explained that "The Scottish Warrior" was at one point actually on deck to challenge Rhodes.
"When Drew McIntyre switched sides and went to 'SmackDown,' it absolutely was to feud with Cody Rhodes over the championship," he said. "But, obviously, things have changed since that's happened."
Meltzer said he thinks the idea is that WWE is telling fans that Rhodes is winning so there is still a surprise to the match if he doesn't. Or, he noted, Rhodes very well could actually be winning at WrestleMania. Alvarez said, and Meltzer agreed, that he thinks Cena will lose the championship back to Rhodes, and Rhodes will have challengers that have already been established, like McIntyre.
McIntyre made the switch to the blue brand from "WWE Raw" at the beginning of the year. He looks to be challenging Damian Priest at WrestleMania, though the match has not yet been made official, after the pair of former World Heavyweight Champions reignited their feud at the Royal Rumble when Priest threw McIntyre over the top rope to eliminate him from the match.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Wrestling Observer Radio" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
