You never know what’s going to happen when you watch Friday Night SmackDown, and this week’s show featured a major title change. Cody Rhodes defended the Undisputed WWE Championship against Drew McIntyre in a Three Stages of Hell match that main evented the show, and Drew McIntyre ended up winning the gold after Jacob Fatu returned and interfered in the match.
Bodyslam reports that both Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre pitched for the title change on SmackDown like they did around the WrestlePalooza premium live event last year. According to the report WWE decided that the time was right and they moved forward.
Cody Rhodes and Drew McIntyre have been feuding since August and prior to the title change on SmackDown, Drew had challenged Cody for the belt in three separate televised matches.
It seems that some new faces could be entering the Undisputed WWE Title picture sooner than later as Nick Aldis also announced that a series of qualifying matches will be held next week on SmackDown. The winners will advance to a fatal four way match and the winner of that match will go on to challenge for the Undisputed WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble. The following qualifying matches have been confirmed:
– Randy Orton vs. The Miz
– Matt Cardona vs. Trick Williams
– Damian Priest vs. Solo Sikoa
– Sami Zayn vs. Ilja Dragunov
Stay tuned for updates.