Friday’s Undisputed WWE Championship title defense was personal for Cody Rhodes when he locked up with The Vision’s Bronson Reed in “WWE SmackDown’s” main event. While Rhodes walked out of a nasty fight with Reed with his title reign intact, things are far from over — especially after Drew McIntyre emerged to become The Vision’s fourth WarGames teammate.
Some may consider Reed’s early beatdown of Rhodes a WarGames preview, as the Australian laid “SmackDown’s” world champion to utter waste. When Reed’s power seemed its most insurmountable, however, Rhodes’ signature resilience saved him, and he landed his signature, old-fashioned strikes on Reed before dodging a Tsunami. Rhodes’ follow-up Cody Cutter failed to score him the pinfall, and the fight spilled to the outside as Rhodes attempted to set-up an announce table spot.
Bron Breakker and Logan Paul lunged at Rhodes to bring the match to a screeching halt. Jimmy and Jey Uso dashed to make the save, and after laying out Paul with a One-D, the Usos began to set up for a table spot. Albany’s collective gasps stopped them in their tracks, as the recently-suspended McIntyre emerged to lay out The Usos.
Chaos only erupted from there. Rhodes attempted to reinsert himself into the fight, only to ultimately take a Tsunami as The Vision firmly cemented a victory in the WarGames build-up. “SmackDown’s” last moments saw the ringside Paul Heyman proudly bestow a contract to McIntyre, who generously accepted the offer to stand alongside Breakker, Reed, and Paul as The Vision’s fourth WarGames team member.
The Men’s WarGames teams began to form following the November 3 episode of “WWE Raw,” where Paul solidified his fickle loyalty to The Vision with a pair of brass knuckles to CM Punk. Since then, Rhodes, Punk, and both Usos have attempted to push back against Reed, Breakker, Paul, and now, McIntyre.
