WWE Hot Take: Why Cody Rhodes Should Drop Undisputed Championship Around SummerSlam

It feels like WWE has fans comfortably thinking that Cody Rhodes will hang onto his Undisputed Championship for the foreseeable future, perhaps right up until the next WrestleMania.

Which is why WWE should yank the proverbial rug right out from underneath fans.

Make no mistake, Rhodes shouldn't lose his title just for the sake of shock value. It must be an earned title change, with the wrestler pulling off the upset deserving of actually doing so.

But when one begins to peel back the layers, it certainly seems to make a lot of sense.

Right out of the gates after having his big moment, Rhodes' booking has felt, unfortunately, exactly what detractors expected—filler. It hasn't felt all that different from his booking just one year ago while partaking in the strange, extended Brock Lesnar feud.

To date, Rhodes had a fun one-off with an up-and-comer, did the house-show thing with Shinsuke Nakamura and had a so-so feud with AJ Styles, effectively taking the Seth Rollins-type route of fighting champion.

It hasn't been bad, but it would be hard to complain about a change already, either.

That isn't happening though. Instead, fans will next get to see Rhodes defend against...Logan Paul in Saudi Arabia in a match that was initially, vaguely defined as possibly being a winner-takes-all fight that for some reason included Paul's United States title.

It's more proof that something might need to change in a hurry, lest fans become indifferent.

Truthfully, one of the bigger potential hurdles with Rhodes is that he's so much better in chase mode. The toothpaste is out of the tube now, but unlike that cliche, WWE can actually fix this and get him back in chase mode pretty quickly.

There are certainly plenty of paths that make sense if Rhodes is going to lose his title before or even at SummerSlam. Look at the men's tournament, which could spit out a worthy challenger like Gunther.

Fans would be hard-pressed to forget the borderline classic those two put on at the Royal Rumble not all that long ago, nor would they be able to complain about someone like Gunther being the one to take down Rhodes.

And if that doesn't work for whatever reason, there's also the matter of the Money in the Bank briefcase. One example? Rhodes takes a Bloodline beatdown before the briefcase holder takes advantage.

Speaking of the Bloodline, it would be really hard to blame WWE for pulling on this narrative thread while getting the title off Rhodes earlier than fans expect.

Think about it—in the background here, there's the idea that an "executive" heel Rock is still pulling the strings at the highest level of the company. That he still has a serious issue with Rhodes and is presumably heavily involved in the current Bloodline around Solo Sikoa.

If the long-term plan is really Rock vs. Rhodes at the next 'Mania, that's not exactly something that needs the Undisputed Championship swinging in the balance. After all, Rock has that People's Belt that could go up for grabs, too.

To some, it might seem funny that a WWE constantly bashed for chasing "moments" instead of logical storytelling might be suggested here to pull off a shocker. But there's a balance the company should strive for—and this certainly isn't the Vince McMahon era of booking anymore.

In fact, that's one of the bigger overall points here: This new borderline "golden age" of WWE is a product of Triple H directing creative. For fans who haven't noticed, babyfaces are cool again. They're allowed to be edgy and get over with fans in their own ways, whether it's Jey Uso's flashy entrance, Seth Rollins being Seth Rollins or something else.

A byproduct of this? There's no more heavy reliance on a dominant champion dropping a title to a challenger to "make" the next guy as legit. There's no need for Rhodes to hold the title for just the right moment to make sure the next guy he hands off to is a success. That's as ancient as a dinosaur now.

And hey, fans will love Rhodes regardless. He's the audience stand-in in a way, right? He's the hero who just like them, could hit an unexpected speedbump like losing his title. He'll get right back up and chase it again, making him all the more heroic.

Bonus points, of course, if this quick title drop weaves in the overarching Bloodline story that will go to next year's 'Mania. But all signs point toward the fact WWE will be much, much more interesting and less predictable if it turns out Rhodes doesn't hold the title all that long, after all.