WWE: Why Cody Rhodes' Intercontinental Run Will Be a Long One

The old-school, all-white Intercontinental Championship is back, and we have Cody Rhodes to thank for it.

After winning the Intercontinental title at the Aug. 9th SmackDown tapings and holding it for nearly two months, Rhodes brought the old-school belt back at Hell in a Cell in early October.

He mentioned WWE Hall of Famers who had held the title—such as Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat and "Stone Cold" Steve Austin—and vowed to defend it as much as possible to restore its prestige.

It seems that Rhodes is hell-bent on becoming the greatest Intercontinental Champion in WWE history, and in order to do that, he's going to have to start with a long title reign.

That shouldn't be a problem.

Here are X reasons why Cody Rhodes' current Intercontinental title reign will be a long one.

5. The Lack of Challengers

OK, let's break down the possible baby face challengers for Cody Rhodes' Intercontinental title.

Sheamus and Randy Orton are above that belt's level; The Big Show already had a forgettable feud with Rhodes and is currently challenging for the World Heavyweight Championship; and Sin Cara is busy with Hunico and Epico.

Meanwhile, Rhodes has already feuded with Ted DiBiase, Daniel Bryan's holding the Money in the Bank briefcase and Rhodes already feuded with Ezekiel Jackson over the Intercontinental title.

Who else is there?

4. Booker T Is Not Going to Win the Strap

Cody Rhodes is advertised to defend the Intercontinental Championship at a number of SmackDown live events against Booker T. And Booker recently tweeted that he's been training for "my last run."

So, if you put two and two together, it looks like Rhodes could be headed for a TV feud with Booker T for the Intercontinental title.

I love the prospects of Booker returning to the ring, but I don't think he's doing so to win a secondary title. I think he's doing so to help put Rhodes over.

Even though Rhodes is one of the WWE's most hated heels at the moment, he could definitely benefit from a couple of pay-per-view wins over a legend like Booker T.

I think we'll see Booker look strong in their feud, but Rhodes will still hold onto the title so that he can brag that no one—not even a future Hall of Famer—will be able to take it from him.

And if Rhodes gets through his feud with Booker T and is still the Intercontinental Champion, then he will be going on six months with the strap. 

3. He's Adjusting to a New Character

The mask is gone, the paper bags are gone and presumably, the "disfigured" gimmick is gone for good, too.

That's fine by me, because as much as I liked Cody Rhodes' "Undashing" character, it seemed to have run its course.

The only question now, though, is, Where does Rhodes go from here?

I don't think we'll see him change his attitude, his demeanor or his mannerisms all that much, but he does have to tweak his character in some way.

A good start would be for Rhodes to be a cocky champion who defends his Intercontinental title all the time because he's so confident that he can't lose it.

After all, he did say that's what he would do in the first place. 

2. His Rise to the Main Event Has Been Put on Hold by Wade Barrett

When Cody Rhodes first started feuding with Randy Orton, I thought to myself, "This is the feud that's going to take him to the main event level."

So much for that.

Although the feud certainly helped Rhodes show he can hang with the big boys, he's still pretty much in the same position on the card that he was in when that feud first started, and he's been surpassed by Wade Barrett in SmackDown's heel pecking order.

Notice that it's Team Barrett at Survivor Series, not Team Rhodes.

I still have confidence in Rhodes making it to the World Heavyweight Championship picture sooner rather than later, but at least for now, he's going to have to wait until Barrett gets his shot first.

1. He Hardly Ever Defends It

Cody Rhodes hasn't exactly lived up to his promise to defend his Intercontinental Championship as much as possible.

Since making that vow on Oct. 2 at Hell in a Cell, guess how many times he's defended it.

Exactly once; but it came that very night against John Morrison.

So let's say that Rhodes defends the strap once every two months, and he continues to do so against random opponents.

Well then that pretty much guarantees that his reign is going to be lengthy, doesn't it?