Cody Rhodes is still Undisputed WWE Champion after defeating Drew McIntyre, even though his champion’s advantage was taken away when McIntyre demanded the stipulation be put in place on Friday’s episode of “WWE SmackDown.” That didn’t stop Rhodes, however, who was able to hit McIntyre with a DDT right on the belt while the referee was downed in the corner. Now that Rhodes has once again defeated McIntyre, however, where does the story go for both of them?

If we know anything about McIntyre’s character, it’s that he’s going to whine about how Rhodes got the victory by cheating means. He’ll likely run the video over and over for “SmackDown” General Manager Nick Aldis and the crowd, showing Rhodes use the title, complaining that he deserves another fair shot at the gold. It’s honestly possible that McIntyre could get another shot, this time, in a No Holds Barred match or some other kind of hardcore stipulation. If he couldn’t beat Rhodes by taking away the champion’s advantage, he could always attempt to lay him out in a Last Man Standing match or something.

Rhodes and McIntyre currently don’t exactly feel like they’d fit into a WarGames match at Survivor Series this year. So, they could run a street fight or something of the like between them on that premium live event, as it’s still marketed as one of the “Big Four” (or five, depending on who you ask) annual shows for WWE. If the company wanted to extend the story, they could run another match between the men at Saturday Night’s Main Event next month, as it’s a big show with John Cena’s final match.

Randy Orton is hopefully going to come into play somewhere in Rhodes’ story. Orton had been eyeing up the title, and could return to attempt to talk some sense into his friend, after Rhodes has been acting a little more aggressive, borderline heelish, in recent weeks. Orton will likely make his return to WWE TV ahead of Survivor Series, or even at the event, if Rhodes has a match. There’s also the idea floating around the internet that Orton will be the one to turn on Rhodes, and the champion’s heel turn teases right now could be a misdirection for that.

It doesn’t feel like WWE will want to put Rhodes in another major feud before the end of the year, so it looks like another match with McIntyre is where they’re heading. To fresh things up, hopefully Orton makes his return somewhere along the line, though it doesn’t feel like “The Scottish Psycopath” is ever getting his hands on the Undisputed WWE Championship, at least not while “The American Nightmare” is holding the gold.

Written by Daisy Ruth