Drew McIntyre Was Moved To SmackDown For Series Of Title Matches With Cody Rhodes (WWE News)
WWE's original plans for Drew McIntyre on SmackDown involved Undisputed Champion Cody Rhodes.
Drew McIntyre was originally moved to SmackDown on the WWE roster for a series of Undisputed WWE Championship matches with Cody Rhodes.
This is per Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. He writes that McIntyre's title aspirations likely fall apart if Rhodes loses the gold at WrestleMania 41, as he doesn't see WWE booking McIntyre vs. the newly-heel John Cena.
Cena vs. Rhodes will likely headline WrestleMania 41's second night (20 April). The match was made official after Elimination Chamber 2025, where Cena won the titular men's bout, outdoing CM Punk, Seth Rollins, Logan Paul, Damien Priest, and McIntyre. Afterwards, Cena turned heel in one of the most memorable angles in years, aligning with Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson after Rhodes had spurned Rock's advances.
Rapper Travis Scott accompanied Rock and Cena, reportedly injuring Rhodes during his part of the beatdown.
McIntyre, regarded amongst the best wrestlers in the world, looks set for a WrestleMania match with Priest. Priest successfully cashed-in his Money in the Bank contract seconds after Drew had defeated Seth Rollins to become World Heavyweight Champion at 'Mania 40. Although WWE is yet to make the match official, current storylines are trending in this direction.
Meltzer and Wrestling Observer Radio cohost Bryan Alvarez reported on the expected winner of John Cena vs. Cody Rhodes earlier in the week (SPOILERS).
Drew hasn't fought for one of WWE's top titles since Money in the Bank 2024 (6 July), where he and Rollins were unsuccessful in a Triple Threat with then-World Heavyweight Champion Priest. There is currently no word on which upcoming WWE PLEs his series with Rhodes was planned for.