Cody Rhodes wins WWE Championship, WrestleMania 42 title match set

Cody Rhodes is now a three-time WWE Champion, and his WrestleMania 42 match is set.

Rhodes defeated Drew McIntyre to win the title in the main event of Friday’s SmackDown. After an initial ref bump, Rhodes brought in a second referee for a nearfall. But after Rhodes kicked out of one of McIntyre’s nearfalls, the now former champion laid out the second referee with a headbutt. McIntyre left the ring and re-entered with a steel chair but as he went to use it, Jacob Fatu emerged and yanked the chair away. The brief distraction allowed Rhodes to recover, hit a super cutter, then pinned McIntyre after a crossroads.

With Rhodes’ win, it is now official that he will be defending the title against Randy Orton at WrestleMania 42 next month. It was announced prior to the main event that a contract signing would take place on next week’s SmackDown.

Orton reacted to the news on social media with a video of himself watching Rhodes win the title.

The sudden title match was made over the weekend after McIntyre interfered yet again in Rhodes’ affairs by costing him a Elimination Chamber victory. An angry Nick Aldis entered the post-show panel area and announced the title match for Friday, which led to a shouting match between himself and McIntyre.

McIntyre defeated Cody Rhodes in a Three Stages of Hell match on the January 9 edition of SmackDown to win the title. Rhodes lost after a returning Fatu entered the steel cage and started to brawl with McIntyre. When Rhodes attempted to intervene, Fatu fought him as McIntyre escaped from the cage.

Bryan Rose

Bryan Rose is an editor from California that has been covering professional wrestling for well over a decade. He officially joined F4WOnline as an editor in 2017.