WrestleMania 42 WWE Title Plans Thrown Up In The Air (WWE News)

Drew McIntyre to defend the WWE Title against Cody Rhodes on SmackDown.

by Andrew Pollard
WWE Elimination Chamber 2026 Drew McIntyre Nick Aldis
WWE

While Randy Orton won the men's Elimination Chamber match last night, in turn earning himself a WrestleMania 42 shot at the WWE Championship currently held by Drew McIntyre, SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis has seemingly thrown those plans up in the air.

As that Chamber match came down to Orton and Cody Rhodes, Drew made his presence known, attacking the American Nightmare with the WWE Title. Rhodes would manage to put McIntyre down with a Cross Rhodes, but that distraction led to the Viper hitting an RKO on Cody for the 1-2-3.

Following this, an enraged Nick Aldis confronted Drew backstage during the Elimination Chamber post-show, then went one further by crashing the usual post-show chatter from Joe Tessitore, Peter Rosenberg, and Big E, to announce that McIntyre will be defending his WWE Championship against Cody Rhodes on this week's edition of SmackDown.

Advertisement

This led to Drew McIntyre coming out to berate Aldis, as the two went face-to-face, with the former two-time NWA Worlds Heavyweight Champion even removing his jacket as things threatened to get physical, before Adam Pearce managed to pull Nick away.

So, as it stands, it's Randy Orton vs. Drew McIntyre for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 42, but, depending on how things go on Friday, it could be Cody Rhodes walking into the Showcase of the Immortals to face Randal Keith as the defending champ.

Advertisement

Of course, this comes on the back of plentiful rumours that the 'Mania 42 WWE Title match could wind up being a multi-man match, particularly with how McIntyre has constantly screwed Cody and Jacob Fatu in recent weeks, not to mention names like Sami Zayn and Aleister Black lurking in the periphery of all of this.

AEW Releases: Every Wrestler Released In 2026

Stephanie Vaquer Responds After Worrying Public "Fan" Encounter (WWE News)

Chris Jericho RETURNS On AEW Dynamite After Months Of WWE Rumors (AEW News)

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.