Original Plans For Cody Rhodes-Drew McIntyre Segment On WWE SmackDown

On this week’s episode of Friday Night SmackDown, Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes opened up the show, but was swiftly interrupted by Drew McIntyre, who exercised his ability to switch between brands during the current ‘transfer window’. 

McIntyre hugged Rhodes upon entering the ring, before telling him that he wasn’t on his revenge hit list, instead warning Rhodes that he was potentially on the verge of ruining his career. Rhodes brushed past McIntyre’s words, saying that he sees through the lies and the ruse, and said he was happy to put his title on the line against McIntyre at any time. McIntyre left the ring, allowing Rhodes to get attacked by current rival Kevin Owens, who he will be facing in a ladder match at the Royal Rumble.

In something that hasn’t been heard much since the Vince McMahon era of WWE, there were reportedly a lot of rewrites and late revisions to SmackDown’s opening segment, per PWInsider. The segment was originally set to be opened by Kevin Owens cutting a promo, before then being interrupted by the other two participants in the segment. Jey Uso’s name was also thrown around to be included too. There were reportedly back and forth discussions on how to figure things out creatively, until the final version of the segment was agreed upon. 

Sign up to the Cultaholic Wrestling Newsletter now