WWE Opinion: Where Are They Taking Cody Rhodes?

So, the Big Show finally got his big win at WrestleMania XXVIII. 

But it came at the expense of a young, talented and poised superstar named Cody Rhodes, the son of the “American Dream” Dusty Rhodes and the brother of Golddust, Dustin Runnels. 

After having one of the longest WWE Intercontinental Championship reigns in the past decade, Rhodes became one of the top heels on Smackdown with his fantastic promos and good ring work.

He even became popular among diehard wrestling fans by changing the belt design to a smaller version of the classic Intercontinental Championship belt held by the likes of Ultimate Warrior, Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels and the Honky Tonk Man. 

The problem is, without the title around his waist (and in the hands of the Big Show), where does that leave the once “Dashing” Cody Rhodes? 

Well, it seemed as if WWE’s creative team was either trying to put over Santino Marella by having him defeat Rhodes at the Elimination Chamber, or that they just wanted to keep Rhodes stuck in the mid-card.

It’s frustrating, because Rhodes was doing some of his best work prior to that elimination, and Santino was being featured, but not featured in the main event level. That is, until he won the United States Championship off of Jack Swagger last month on Raw. 

So, the push to Santino seems to be working, since he has fan support and his gimmick just seems to be clicking with the audiences—albeit at the expense of Rhodes’ title chances on the Smackdown brand. 

With him losing to the Big Show at WrestleMania and dropping his title, it seems as though they will continue the rivalry by potentially booking him to win it back soon—or at least at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view.

Or, what if he is getting pushed to the next level? With the sudden stardom of the egomaniacal but fantastic Daniel Bryan, the new World Heavyweight Champion Sheamus being crowned in an 18-second opening fiasco in Miami and the WWE Draft coming up, one has to wonder if Rhodes is ready to get the main event title shot. 

If Rhodes is drafted to the show where CM Punk and Chris Jericho are, could he be the next guy to challenge the WWE Champion? He is an excellent heel, and would work well with both men currently feuding on the Raw brand.

But, what if he stays on Smackdown? Could he be the next guy in line for a title shot with Sheamus or Daniel Bryan? 

The question is a difficult one to answer, due to the fact that WWE Creative has plenty of superstars to work with that could easily get a push to the title.

Dolph Ziggler, Kane, Randy Orton, Jack Swagger, John Cena, the Miz, R-Truth, Alberto Del Rio, Christian and even the newly-returned Brock Lesnar could all be in the title hunt by Summerslam, regardless of which brand they are on and where they are within the company.

But, at this juncture, no one is more ready than Rhodes, whose consistency has only been rivaled by Ziggler and Bryan. 

Now, if the WWE decides to keep him feuding with Big Show and he wins the title back, then what?

He could challenge Sheamus or Daniel Bryan and try to become the “Undisputed” champion of sorts on Smackdown. 

In my opinion, there is no reason to even keep the belt on him if he is going to the main event level.

While the Big Show has no reason to keep the belt besides getting his WrestleMania moment, Cody Rhodes definitely doesn’t need it if he is getting to the big time.

He should end the feud with the Big Show.

But winning the belt back means he will be stuck back where he has been for the past 236 days of championship gold that he once had. While that's great, it allows for very little progression, besides the fact that he could still call out the champion by saying he is the No. 1 contender of sorts as Intercontinental Champion. 

Regardless of the past WrestleMania, it is apparent that Cody Rhodes is the future of this company. It’s only a matter of time before he is a World Champion, and it should be this year.