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” essential event. While Rhodes walked out of a nasty fight with Reed along with his title reign intact, things are removed from over — especially after Drew McIntyre emerged to develop into The Vision’s fourth WarGames teammate.
Some may consider Reed’s early beatdown of Rhodes a WarGames preview, because the Australian laid “SmackDown’s” world champion to utter waste. When Reed’s power seemed its most insurmountable, nevertheless, Rhodes’ signature resilience saved him, and he landed his signature, old-fashioned strikes on Reed before dodging a Tsunami. Rhodes’ follow-up Cody Cutter did not rating him the pinfall, and the fight spilled to the surface 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 establish for a table spot. Albany’s collective gasps stopped them of their tracks, because the recently-suspended McIntyre emerged to put 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 within 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 face 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 each Usos have attempted to keep off against Reed, Breakker, Paul, and now, McIntyre.