Why Triple H's Biggest WWE Blunder Is Hidden In Plain Sight

Cody Rhodes Logan Paul
WWE.com

Just weeks after he was crowned, a disappointing story leaked suggesting that Triple H and Co didn't really have anything in the pipeline for Cody until The Rock and Roman Reigns returned.

Never was this more apparent than in the poorly assembled addition-by-subtraction segment between Rhodes and Logan Paul on the May 17th edition of SmackDown. Though possibly not in the strictest definition, the original Champion Vs Champion match at King & Queen Of The Ring was a dream match of sorts. The two were bound to come together at some point, but with both belts on the line, the drama was doubled and Rhodes had a brand new motivation - a Grand Slam. Just seven days later, that element was binned entirely and an already-predictable result had even less on the line.

The promos and matches are rarely bad, and plenty of them are brand new, but SmackDown in particular feels like a barren sky for the company's biggest star. Styles and Paul made for decent launchpad programmes, but only Randy Orton remains as something big for Cody's summer. The day will come for him to mix in with whatever the Bloodline civil war looks like when Reigns returns and Jimmy and Jey Uso reunite, but that's got Road To WrestleMania all over it.

Meanwhile on Monday, both CM Punk and Drew McIntyre will require an opponent to follow up with when their amazing hostilities have concluded, Gunther, Uso, Sami Zayn, Chad Gable, Ilja Dragonv, Sheamus, Sami Zayn and most recently Bron Breakker are good examples of the quantity and quality available. There are others too - current World Champion Damian Priest won't have the belt forever just as Finn Bálor won't be his mate for much longer, Braun Strowman would make for a brand new match and fascinating dynamic and Seth Freakin' Rollins now has as much lore with Rhodes as anybody 'The American Nightmare' has ever faced. Not all are brand new but they don't need to be - Cody's the best at selling any fight, and he's just as adept at justifying a rematch as a first-time showdown.

It's not panic stations, but is that the depth of the bar now? What's the point of WWE so obviously raising standards if viewers don't either? Serious questions need to be asked of a creative team taking somebody like a Cody Rhodes for granted, and serious answers need to be forthcoming before a bust for this current boom appears on the horizon.

A simple show-swap really will solve everything.

CONT'D...

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Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back almost 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 60,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett