WWE WrestleMania 28: Cody Rhodes Will Insert Name into World Title Picture

Over the past year or so, Cody Rhodes has elevated his level of performance on a consistent basis. He's held the Intercontinental Championship since August, making him the longest reining champion in the WWE today. 

When Rhodes first won the gold, he claimed he was going to be a fighting champion, taking on any and all challengers any place, any time. While he succeeded in doing so for the beginning of his title reign, he has defended the title against a full-time performer on a pay-per-view since October. That's a five month drought of no Intercontinental Championship matches on big shows which is far too long for somebody with Rhodes' skill set to go on. 

Currently, Rhodes has entered into a feud with Big Show, with Rhodes displaying Show's well-documented WrestleMania failures throughout his career.  For Show, it is a fresh change of pace for him to get away from his feud with Daniel Bryan, which saw Show fail to get any sort of momentum on the current World Heavyweight champion. 

At WrestleMania 28 in Miami, Show will challenge Rhodes for the Intercontinental Championship. With this contest in place, it is the perfect time for Rhodes to insert his name into the World title picture on Smackdown. 

In order for this to happen, obviously, Rhodes needs to drop the IC championship to the giant Big Show. 

One reason that Rhodes needs to drop the title is because, well, it's long overdue.  Not that Rhodes has been a terrible champion, but as we all know, mid-card titles are not the main focus for the WWE anymore. Rhodes has already been somewhat inserted into the World title picture while holding the Intercontinental strap so having him hold that while going after the big belt is unnecessary to say the least.

Another reason for Rhodes to drop the belt is that Show could have more title bouts than Rhodes has had.  It's not hard to predict that since Rhodes hasn't defended well at all over the past few months because of his insertion into the main event scene. Show had his little run in the big picture, but now it's time for him to go back to where he's best suited, the mid-card scene. 

By having Show win the title, it not only gives him some validation for dropping the World Heavyweight Championship in a record 45-seconds, but it also gives him something to do, something to move on to. 

If Rhodes were to win the match against Big Show next Sunday, it would serve him no real purpose, all it would do would keep him holding a title that has no meaning to his character anymore for at least the next month. 

Rhodes will take his WrestleMania loss as a silver lining. By losing, Rhodes is actually gaining more than he is losing in the Intercontinental Championship. 

Losing the title will be the best thing that has happened to Cody Rhodes since actually winning the strap.