WWE: Has Cody Rhodes Lost His Momentum?

No matter how talented a WWE star may be, it doesn’t always guarantee a push or anything even resembling success. 

In a way, the WWE has become notorious for overlooking tremendously skilled stars and failing to utilize them like most think they should be. 

Just in recent years, we’ve seen a long list of superstars and divas that have fallen through the cracks in the WWE, including Jack Swagger, Drew McIntyre and Natalya, just to name a few. 

Others—like Dolph Ziggler and The Miz—have seen their pushes come and go without any real explanation as to what’s going on when they find themselves falling down the card. 

And now, another ridiculously talented superstar finds himself tightrope-walking the line between those two categories.

That man’s name is Cody Rhodes. 

We can’t act like it’s been all bad for Rhodes over the past year or so, as he’s had some notable feuds with the likes of Randy Orton and Booker T and even defended the intercontinental championship against Big Show at WrestleMania 28. 

But despite all of the things that Rhodes has accomplished since jumping ship to SmackDown in 2010, he’s become somewhat of an afterthought in the WWE as of late. 

When Rhodes dropped the intercontinental championship to Big Show at WrestleMania earlier this year, many thought that Rhodes’ title loss happened in order to elevate him up the card, possibly even setting him up to win one of the Money in the Bank briefcases. 

After all, it’s classic WWE booking to have a rising star lose a mid-card title in order to almost immediately thrust him into the World title scene. 

That didn’t happen, though. 

Instead, Rhodes’ stock has fallen week by week, creating some serious questions about what lies ahead in his short-term future. 

While it’s safe to say that Rhodes’ long-term career prospects still look great, the WWE is entering into dangerous territory here by essentially portraying him as just another guy. 

It was bad enough that Rhodes suffered a number of bad losses (Remember when he lost clean to The Great Khali?) on the road to WrestleMania, especially in a feud with the ever-so-stale Big Show. But his luck has taken an even bigger turn for the worse since Over the Limit. 

That’s where Rhodes lost the intercontinental title to Christian. Yes, the very same belt that he brought back and the same one that has helped define his character over the last year or so. 

Rhodes almost seems naked without the intercontinental championship, and instead of using the fact that he’s no longer held back by a mid-card title to elevate him up the card, the WWE has decided to put Rhodes in the backseat. 

Although he entered Money in the Bank as one of the favorites to win his ladder match, that obviously didn’t happen, and his immediate future appears bleak after what’s transpired on the last few TV shows. 

Rhodes was nowhere to be found on last week’s Raw, last week’s SmackDown or this week’s historic 1,000th episode of Raw. Instead, he was relegated to a lone match on Superstars last week. 

All I have to ask is: What’s going on here? 

It was more than two months ago that Rhodes lost the Intercontinental title, and if there were plans to thrust him into the main event, then that likely would have happened by now. 

But no, Rhodes isn’t Mr. Money in the Bank, the No. 1 contender for a world title or even a major player in the WWE at the moment. 

What Rhodes has unfortunately and surprisingly become—at least for right now—is someone who’s extremely talented but just doesn’t seem to have a place in the company’s creative plans. 

I’m not sure that’s going to change anytime soon, either. 

With CM Punk seemingly turning heel on this week’s Raw, Brock Lesnar back for the immediate future, The Miz recently returning and Wade Barrett likely returning shortly as well, Rhodes may be the odd man out. 

At the very least, though, Rhodes’ momentum from the end of 2011 and early 2012 has been completely lost. 

And he’s got a lot of obstacles in his way that could prevent him from getting it back.

Drake Oz is a WWE Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter and ask him any wrestling-related questions on Formspring.