WWE TLC 2011: Who Will Challenge Cody Rhodes for the IC Championship?

With Survivor Series in the books, now is the time to look into the future. 

TLC is coming up in December from Baltimore and it is sure to bring the high spots that we as fans love to see in professional wrestling matches. 

While it is somewhat early to look at possible matches, it won't hurt anything to start the speculation, will it?

One thing that has become increasingly apparent is that the mid-card titles have become a joke, much like the Diva's title was before it. 

The United States title is defended against whoever happens to win a non-title match against Dolph Ziggler, regardless of whether or not a proper feud has been set up to merit a title defense.  Tag team titles seem to be in limbo right now as Evan Bourne is serving his suspension for a wellness violation. 

This leads us to the Intercontinental Championship and the holder of the title, Cody Rhodes. 

When Rhodes won the IC from Ezekial Jackson, he vowed to be a fighting champion, defending against any and all comers that wished to give a crack at the title.  At first, he really did live up to that statement.  He defended his title a total of four times in a seven day period, regaining the title each and every time. 

Having been capable of winning tough matches in a row, Rhodes' credibility skyrocketed.  Fans all over the WWE Universe started to call for a Rhodes main event match, asking for him to be the next heel in line for a World Heavyweight title match.  What they got was a hard fought feud with Randy Orton.

What better way for one to kick off their push to main event status than to feud with one of the biggest stars the entire company has to offer? Although Randy Orton defeated Rhodes on several occasions in singles bouts, Rhodes proved that his increase in skill inside the ring has warranted him to be one of the next big stars in the WWE; more specifically, the next big star on SmackDown. 

However, Rhodes is holding the IC title, meaning that a push to the main event stage on SD will have to wait until he drops the strap.  Knowing that, Wade Barrett has emerged as the true heel who is likely to make waves when he finally gets his shot at the World title.

In the meantime, Rhodes has the IC title to worry about, along with who is the next person to challenge him for the title.

As it stands, there is no true No. 1 contender for the IC title, mostly because it has been a few months since Rhodes has engaged in a feud that was headlined by the championship.  Rhodes has gone through Ted DiBiase, John Morrison and Sheamus  recently, but since hasn't defended.  His last defense dates back to Hell in a Cell, over two months ago now. 

Sounds like it's time for Rhodes to get back on the horse and defend his title. 

Only, now it's time to figure out who is going to challenge for that title.  Problem is, that may be a little hard to figure out.

With Rhodes having gone through the only true competition that exists on SmackDown right there, it's basically just scraping the bottom of the barrel to find an opponent for him. 

Logic states that the best possible options for him at TLC would be to take on Daniel Bryan or even possibly Sheamus. 

A match between Rhodes and Bryan has been sought after about from technical wrestling nuts.  They've done it before, but it can be duplicated and nobody would complain about it. 

Taking on Sheamus would be the best option for the two if neither of them has anything planned for them in the grand scheme of things come December.  This has also been done before, but it would give two fan-favorites their chance to shine as well. 

Unfortunately, neither of those matches seem to be in the near future. 

Actually, the best challenger for the Intercontinental title isn't even on SmackDown.  Depending on how Raw wants to handle Dolph Ziggler and his eventual push to the main event, Rhodes' challenger could be someone that Ziggler has dealt with multiple times recently.  Someone the fans are more than over with.  Someone that just so happens to make some appearances on SmackDown, even though he is technically the property of Raw.

Yes, I'm talking about Zack Ryder.  Long Island Iced Z deserves to have some spotlight, which he has gotten more and more of over on Raw.  He's had two different United States Championship matches, except both of those didn't end up in his favor. 

Consider the following: Big Show is currently feuding with Mark Henry over on SmackDown, even though he is a Raw Superstar.  Morrison got an IC title match for no good reason even though he, too, is a Raw Superstar.  Raw is now under the tag of Raw Supershow, meaning that SD Superstars appear on Raw each and every week. Zack Ryder is Teddy's Long's special consultant on Friday nights.

Add those facts together and you get an eventual Ryder IC title match.  Why not give this guy a shot since the difference between Raw and SmackDown superstars is increasingly non-existent and he already appears on SmackDown week after week?

Ryder may be petitioning for another US title match, but it's becoming clear that if anybody is going to take the US strap from Ziggler, it's going to be Mason Ryan, especially when you consider the great push he has gotten since turning face in September. 

Rhodes needs somebody to fight with over the IC title, and who better than Ryder?

OPEN READER/COMMENT CHALLENGE:

I dare you to tell me who should get a IC championship match over Ryder.  Consider all the SmackDown Superstars and their current standings on the show and find someone to take the shot over Ryder.