Despite being the biggest babyface on WWE’s entire roster, the short-term plan for Cody Rhodes has been unclear. He’s had a few verbal exchanges with Dominik Mysterio and acted as Jey Uso’s hypeman, but there hasn’t been a clear bigger story that’s emerged, at least apart from him eventually finishing the story with Roman Reigns. Well, after a recent live event, many fans now think they know where WWE is going to take him, and I think they’re probably right. He’s about to feud with Omos.
Video is flying around Twitter from a live event, more specifically Saturday night’s WWE SuperShow in Palm Springs. It shows Omos and MVP appearing at ringside and interfering in Cody Rhodes’ match with Dirty Dominik Mysterio. The Nigerian Giant picks Rhodes up from the outside of the ring and throws him over the ropes back inside. Mysterio then delivers a frog splash, but Rhodes kicks out. You can check out footage of the altercation below…
Shenanigans! @CodyRhodes @DomMysterio35 @TheGiantOmos @The305MVP #wwepalmdesert #wwepalmsprings pic.twitter.com/skWIoteMVMSeptember 24, 2023
Now, just because something happens during a house show doesn’t mean it’s going to meaningfully affect the TV storyline. There’s a long history of WWE trying things out on the road and deciding not to move forward with them, but this makes sense for a lot of reasons. Omos, despite losing almost all of his high profile matches, is still an intimidating force that feels like an obstacle for a babyface to get through. His manager MVP is also super capable on the microphone, and since Triple H, Bruce Prichard and the writers seem content to delay Cody and Roman until WrestleMania 40, he needs a lot of these shorter programs to do.
Now, if it were me, I wouldn’t have this match happen at Fastlane, unless Cody Rhodes is going to appear in the WarGames match. A snappy two week build doesn’t feel like enough. If he’s not going to tag in the WarGames main event and needs something to do at Survivor Series, I’d spend the next two months building Omos back up, while MVP repeatedly calls out Cody. Let him run through a lot of midcard guys on Raw. Make him look like an unstoppable force. Deep down, we all know Cody is going to beat him whenever they fight, but if he picks up a few wins against people like Otis or Ciampa or Ricochet, it’ll at least add in a little doubt.
As for Cody Rhdoes’ long-term plans, everyone is assuming the plan is for him to fight Roman Reigns again in a rematch at WrestleMania 40. The Rock’s recent surprise SmackDown appearance has some questioning that, though. It’s hard to imagine WWE turning down The Rock and Roman Reigns if it’s on the table, given the massive crossover appeal that would have, but even if that gets locked in, I think it’s likely we see that happen on night one and Cody and Roman still happen on night two. How exactly we get to that, however, is anyone’s guess. Cody could go back-to-back and win The Royal Rumble again. He could win the newly announced Elimination Chamber in Australia or we could get a more creative path. Regardless, it seems like that path is probably going to feature Omos first.