WWE: 5 Wrestlers That Will Challenge Cody Rhodes for the Intercontinental Title

Cody Rhodes battled Ezekiel Jackson for a couple of months in what might have been the least exciting and least entertaining Intercontinental Championship feud in the last 10 years.

Thankfully, that’s over though, and Rhodes is poised to move onto another feud for Smackdown’s mid-card title.

Judging by the commentary from Michael Cole on last week’s show, it appears that Rhodes is going with the theme of wanting to bring some prestige back to the Intercontinental Championship.

I second that, Cody. Just make sure you have the right opponents to do so.

Here are five wrestlers that will challenge Cody Rhodes for the Intercontinental title.

5. Tyson Kidd

Tyson Kidd is currently a heel over on Smackdown, but let's be honest: he's not really doing anything notable in his role on the blue brand.

He's only used in random matches on Superstars and SmackDown, and his character doesn't have all that much depth (or many reasons to be hated), which means that he could certainly benefit from a face turn.

Kidd's offense has always been more conducive to a face character, with a high-flying, high-risk style—similar to guys like Justin Gabriel and Evan Bourne—that tends to get over with the fans.

Perhaps making him a fan favorite would be a good way to turn his career around and turn him into someone of value on Friday Night SmackDown.

An Intercontinental Championship feud between he and Cody Rhodes has the potential to put on some show-stealing matches and help Kidd work on his promos.

4. Sin Cara

Sin Cara is Triple H’s pet project and a guy who the WWE brass would love to see rise to the main event scene.

But—whether it’s the man formerly known as Mistico or Hunico behind the mask—Sin Cara is not ready to challenge for the World title just yet. He is, however, a perfect fit for SmackDown’s mid-card and a feud with Cody Rhodes.

Rhodes loves to dispense paper bags to the crowd, and Sin Cara likes to wear a mask. So, the feud between the two essentially sets itself up.

Rhodes can criticize Sin Cara for “hiding his ugly face behind a mask” and attempt to de-mask the lucha libre star.

We’ve seen that type of feud done before, but it makes sense, and Sin Cara and Rhodes would certainly put on some very good matches on both TV and pay-per-view.

3. Zack Ryder

Zack Ryder is now the assistant to SmackDown general manager Teddy Long and is quickly turning SmackDown into ZackDown.

To truly do so, though, he’s going to need to do more than appear in backstage segments and promos. He’s going to have get in the ring and actually wrestle.

An Intercontinental title feud with Cody Rhodes would do wonders for Ryder. It would get him some much-needed TV exposure, put him in the ring against another talented young gun and get him even more over with the crowd.

And given that Ryder is in a “position of power” on SmackDown, you would think he would be able to finagle his way into an Intercontinental Championship opportunity sooner rather than later.

2. Justin Gabriel

It’s amazing how a little trip back home to South Africa was pretty much the main reasoning behind Justin Gabriel’s face turn.

But it’s whatever. Gabriel’s a natural baby face, and he’s in the exact role he should be in.

I’ve still got a gut feeling that Gabriel could turn into SmackDown’s Evan Bourne—a guy whose in-ring talent gets wasted because he’s not overly charismatic or good on the mic.

Yet, given the way he’s been promoted through video packages recently, it appears that the creative team is behind Gabriel at least for the time being.

Put him in a feud with Cody Rhodes, and you could have the makings of a solid feud between two of SmackDown’s most talent wrestlers.

1. Ted DiBiase

Much like Alex Riley did for The Miz, Ted DiBiase has been serving as Cody Rhodes’ right-hand man and protégé.

Obviously, the relationship between Riley and The Miz eventually soured, and Riley turned into a likeable face on the Raw brand. Expect the same thing to happen with DiBiase.

You can already tell by DiBiase’s facial expressions and overall demeanor that he’s sick of listening to Rhodes and doing all his dirty work.

At this point, it’s only a matter of time before DiBiase explodes, attacks Rhodes, turns face and sets up what could be a great mid-card feud between two guys who have a lot of history together.

In fact, I have a feeling DiBiase's face turn might happen really soon.