How WWE Title Plans Were Altered Due To Injury

The recent WWE Title change has revealed more details about what the company had planned for Cody Rhodes and his challengers.

Drew McIntyre won the Undisputed WWE Championship on SmackDown in Berlin when he defeated Cody Rhodes in a 3 Stages of Hell Match.

After each man won one fall, the third fall was inside a Steel Cage. Following a moment where both men were crotched on the top rope, McIntyre crawled to the door and tried to get out of the cage, but that’s when Jacob Fatu showed up.

While Fatu was there to attack McIntyre, which he did, Rhodes also grabbed Fatu because he wanted to know what he was doing there. Fatu took that as a sign that Rhodes wanted to fight, so they did. While that was going on, McIntyre crawled out the door to win the WWE Title and become a four-time WWE World Champion.

In mid-October, Jacob Fatu was attacked in a backstage segment on SmackDown. It was a way to write him out of storylines while he had dental surgery. The assumption was that McIntyre was the mystery attacker, but McIntyre never admitted it.

According to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, Fatu was going to be involved in the WWE Title feud between Rhodes and McIntyre that started in late summer.

“Originally they were going to do a three-way program with these guys but that’s when Jacob was on the out list. I mean, I guess Drew was still going to be wrestling Cody at the end at Survivor Series. They just moved it up and Drew was probably losing that match anyway.

It didn’t materially change anything, but they were going to do a three-way program already and they’d even started that.” (H/T WrestlingInc)

WWE Felt Like Drew McIntyre Needed To Become Champion Again

Regarding the title change on SmackDown, there were multiple reports going into the show that the company was considering it, but it wasn’t a lock that it would happen.

While discussing the decision to put the WWE Title on McIntyre, Dave Meltzer said it was likely because the company realized McIntyre couldn’t lose again.

“The deal obviously is that they felt that Drew couldn’t lose again. He’d lost two times clean against Cody, and if he lost again, it would be a complete failure.

So they decided to go, but they obviously didn’t want to beat Cody [clean]. You end up with what you had, basically a finish to fluke a win, change the title, and protect Cody at all costs.”

Following his championship victory, Drew McIntyre defended the WWE Title in his home country of Scotland, as he reminded the crowd that he would be the champion again, and that’s exactly what he is.