At the center of WrestleMania season is a contradiction that refuses to settle: cody rhodes is positioned as a pivotal figure in the Undisputed WWE Championship picture, yet multiple threads point to a plan that can change right up to the last moment—starting with Drew McIntyre defending the title against cody rhodes on SmackDown while a separate WrestleMania direction is discussed in parallel.
What is actually set for cody rhodes as SmackDown and WrestleMania pull in different directions?
Two facts are being presented at the same time, and they do not naturally align. First, Drew McIntyre is described as the reigning undisputed WWE champion and is scheduled to defend the title against cody rhodes on Friday night on SmackDown. Second, discussion around the Undisputed WWE Championship match at WrestleMania in Las Vegas on April 18-19 suggests an “active plan” for Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton.
That creates an immediate tension: a champion defending against cody rhodes on SmackDown while a different title-match direction is discussed for WrestleMania. The underlying question is not who is favored—no outcome is confirmed in the available material—but what the shifting emphasis signals about how settled the creative path really is as the company heads toward its biggest show.
How Drew McIntyre’s recent win over Cody Rhodes reshaped the title narrative
One concrete inflection point is identified: Drew McIntyre “surprisingly” defeated Cody Rhodes in a Three Stages of Hell match in Berlin in January. The description of that finish as shocking matters because it frames McIntyre’s current reign as something that disrupted an assumed trajectory.
McIntyre’s own comments deepen that framing. In remarks attributed to Drew McIntyre in an interview with “Uncrowned, ” he described the Berlin match as the kind of story “Robert Burns or Shakespeare couldn’t have written…any better, ” emphasizing that “everyone assumed that Cody was going to…hold the title and go right through to WrestleMania” before the “shocking finish. ”
McIntyre also tied his arc to the pandemic-era WrestleMania 36 circumstance, describing how he won the WWE championship in an empty WWE Performance Center during the COVID-19 shutdown, then later had the chance to appear in Glasgow as WWE champion in front of friends and family—fulfilling a promise that he could not fulfill in 2020. Those statements establish why McIntyre’s current positioning is treated as emotionally consequential, which in turn raises the stakes of any near-term title defense against cody rhodes.
Which WrestleMania match is being positioned, and why does it look unstable?
The material describing backstage discussion is explicit about uncertainty: “plans can—and will—change. ” Within that environment, multiple versions of the WrestleMania title picture are placed on the table.
Named individuals and their institutions are cited as part of that reporting chain. Mike Johnson (PWInsider Elite) is credited with stating that Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton for the Undisputed WWE Championship was the “active plan” for WrestleMania 42. Sean Ross Sapp (Fightful Select) is credited with confirming that report and adding that the match was known “well over a month ago, ” including a claim that both Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton were aware of the plan being pitched.
At the same time, the same body of material describes the situation as fluid: it “appeared” at one point that Rhodes and Jacob Fatu might wrestle one-on-one or join McIntyre for a Triple Threat match. A separate account credited to BodySlam+ on Patreon says the Rhodes–Orton match was decided “on much later” and that McIntyre and Fatu would now square off at WrestleMania, with an additional expectation that McIntyre would leave to film the latest Highlander reboot.
None of these strands is presented as final in the context provided. What is clear is the coexistence of a SmackDown title defense against cody rhodes and multiple WrestleMania scenarios circulating at the same time, including Rhodes vs. Orton as an “active plan” while other configurations are described as having been in consideration.
Who benefits from the uncertainty—and who carries the risk?
Verified fact: The context states that cody rhodes was involved in the men’s Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber matches to “help boost the star power” of those contests. It also notes that teases for a Rhodes–Orton championship bout were visible well over a year ago, including on-camera gestures toward the title. Those details position Rhodes as a multipurpose focal point: a presence used to elevate major matches and a character tied to longer-running championship implications.
Verified fact: Drew McIntyre is portrayed as consistently believable at a high level and as someone who has been part of memorable feuds with The Bloodline, Damian Priest, CM Punk, and Rhodes over recent years. That framing suggests McIntyre is a reliable anchor for extended storytelling, which can make sudden pivots more workable—but also increases scrutiny when the direction appears unsettled.
Informed analysis (clearly labeled): When multiple WrestleMania permutations circulate simultaneously, the immediate beneficiary can be suspense: uncertainty itself becomes a hook. The risk is coherence. If the audience is asked to invest in the urgency of a SmackDown title defense against cody rhodes while hearing that a different WrestleMania direction is already “the active plan, ” the company must reconcile those two signals in a way that feels earned rather than abrupt.
The public-facing story and the backstage-facing story are now on a collision course: cody rhodes is in a title defense on SmackDown while WrestleMania plans are discussed as both established and subject to change, leaving one pressing demand for clarity as Las Vegas approaches—what, exactly, is the real road for cody rhodes?
