Cody Rhodes Beats Drew McIntyre to Retain WWE Title at Saturday Night's Main Event

Cody Rhodes defeated Drew McIntyre at Saturday Night's Main Event to retain the WWE Championship.

Rhodes hit McIntyre with a Cross Rhodes to secure the win.

Rhodes and McIntyre have been at odds for the past few months, dating back to a tag team match on the Aug. 8 episode of SmackDown that pitted Cody and John Cena against Drew and Logan Paul.

While Rhodes and Cena won the match by disqualification, McIntyre got the last laugh by hitting The American Nightmare with the WWE Championship belt and putting him through the front of the announce table with a Claymore.

After being out of action for several weeks, Rhodes returned shortly before Wrestlepalooza, setting up a title match between him and The Scottish Warrior at the Sept. 20 premium live event.

Although Rhodes beat McIntyre in the main event of that show to retain the title, Drew was far from done with Cody and his pursuit of the top prize in WWE.

Throughout October, both McIntyre and Jacob Fatu made their intentions to become WWE champion clear. That led to a rivalry between them, and they were supposed to meet in a match for the No. 1 contendership.

However, before the bout could happen on the Oct. 17 episode of SmackDown, Fatu was shown laid out backstage with a pool of his own blood and teeth on the floor next to him.

McIntyre denied any involvement, but a furious Rhodes made his way to the ring to confront McIntyre and challenged him to a title match on the spot.

The match ended in a disqualification when Cody hit Drew with the title belt, setting the stage for a proper rematch between them at Saturday Night's Main Event.

It came with a twist, though, as McIntyre got Rhodes to agree to a stipulation that would result in Drew becoming champion if Cody got disqualified or counted out.

Unfortunately for McIntyre, his latest attempt to win the WWE Championship fell flat much like it did at Wrestlepalooza, as Rhodes enjoyed another successful defense.