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When Cody Rhodes became the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion at WrestleMania, there was no doubt he would be an active champion. While many others would have liked to rest and celebrate, Rhodes will be seen jumping into action at Backlash, which will take place in France.
At the Premium Live Event, he will defend his title against AJ Styles. But, the real question is that if The American Nightmare does end up beating Styles, whom will he face next? On SmackDown, several superstars could challenge Rhodes. However, the best option would be Randy Orton.
Currently a face, Orton is set to team up with Kevin Owens and face The Bloodline. But given how big he is as a superstar, WWE could easily set up a feud between him and Cody Rhodes. After all, the 14-time World Champion is one of the best heels in the business.
If a feud between Orton and Rhodes does happen, it will be a great watch given the history between them. From being former stablemates to now potentially facing each other for the title, this storyline could draw plenty of attention which would be great for the Stamford-based promotion.
Wrestling veteran says WWE fans will wait to see Cody Rhodes feud with two massive superstars
When Roman Reigns was the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion, the company experienced great TV Ratings. Overall, the live response was also great given the aura of The Tribal Chief. Hence, it was extremely important that a superstar like Cody Rhodes must dethrone him to keep things going.
While Rhodes did end up dethroning Reigns, it's still early days to judge him based on ratings. As per wrestling veteran Dutch Mantell, what would excite the fans is a feud between Cody Rhodes and The Rock or Roman Reigns. During an episode of Story Time with Dutch Mantell, the former WWE employee said:
"What was Cody saying? He wants to finish the story. So he finished the story. The chapter ended. Then, all of a sudden, you don't have Roman there. You don't have The Rock there; you're missing a lot of people. They're all hurt or gone. So the people are gonna wait till they get that story kinda reheated with The Rock and somebody," he said. [From 1:30:05 -1:30:42]
Given how things ended at WrestleMania 40, Cody Rhodes and The Rock are bound to feud at some point. Until then, it will be interesting to see who are the superstars against whom Rhodes will defend his title.
