WWE veteran says 36-year-old star could dethrone Cody Rhodes and face Roman Reigns for the title (Exclusive)

It's still early days in Cody Rhodes' title reign but speculation of him losing the belt is already doing the rounds. Dutch Mantell recently explained why he would like to see Gunther win the title from Cody Rhodes.

The American Nightmare fulfilled his promise and completed his story at WrestleMania 40, following which Roman Reigns has gone on a hiatus and Rhodes is looking to be a workhorse babyface champion.

During the latest Sportskeeda Wrestling Smack Talk episode, Dutch Mantell said that he didn't like seeing Cody Rhodes as champion. Instead, Mantell predicted the 36-year-old Gunther to win the championship eventually and even proposed a mouthwatering clash against Roman Reigns in the distant future.

Mantell was glad WWE had multiple creative options at its disposal, with Reigns vs. Gunther just being one of the many matches that can be booked:

"I don't really like him as champion because I think Gunther will be the champion after about a year, and I think he will hold it for quite a while. I would like to see Gunther vs. Roman. I think they could almost do that now, except they don't need it; it would be rushing it. But they've got so many ways to go." [52:24 onwards]

Dutch Mantell commended WWE for its current setup, which allows the company to replace characters and not negatively impact a story.

Mantell stated that WWE's product had improved tremendously over the past couple of years, and even if he didn't enjoy every SmackDown, the overall presentation was excellent under Triple H.

Cody Rhodes will take on AJ Styles at WWE Backlash, and if he does successfully defend at the PLE, it will be interesting to see how WWE handles the story around his title reign moving forward.

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Please credit Smack Talk and give an H/T to Sportskeeda for the transcription.

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