Cody Rhodes will face his next challenger for the Undisputed WWE Championship at King and Queen of the Ring, and his opponent will be WWE hotshot Logan Paul. While the match will take place on Saturday, the two superstars had one last confrontation on tonight’s SmackDown, and Rhodes made sure it didn’t involve brass knuckles. In fact,ย he also made sure that Paul didn’t sneak them into their match either, as the referee discovered Paul was carrying a second set of brass knuckles. After finding them, Rhodes didn’t hold back on Paul, telling him that he would never be on his level until he stopped treating his WWE career as a part-time endeavor.
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Paul cut off Rhodes before the Champion could even begin speaking, and he was rather confident about his chances at King and Queen of the Ring. “Tomorrow night I’m walking out with the Undisputed Championship, the one you’re holding right now, and the United States Championship. While you might have the edge in experience, I’m smarter than you. All that bleach must be making you dumb. I know one thing, Cody, I’m certainly a better athlete than you, a better entertainer than you, a better performer than you. Just yesterday you saw me give my brass knuckles to Michael Cole, and I’m not using them tomorrow,” Paul said.
“Certainly I’m not an idiot, and my experience would lead me to believe that you, you’re just a scared kid,” Rhodes said. “You’re afraid that somebody is going to see you as a fraud in WWE. A YouTuber pretending to be a pro wrestler. Cosplaying. Truth is, I don’t believe that. I have seen just how good you are, but I’ve also seen that you have a case of imposter syndrome, and standing face to face, my experience would lead me to believe you have another set of knuckles on you right now.”
Paul reiterated that he gave them to Cole and called Cody stupid. Rhodes then said that they should give Paul a quick check to see if it was true, and referee Ryan Tran checked to see if he was telling the truth. He wasn’t of course, and Ryan found another set of knuckles. Paul tried to say that this was a pair of his brother’s pants, and Ryan gave the knuckles to Rhodes.
Paul said he could explain, and he said he wouldn’t use them tomorrow, but he had them for protection tonight. Paul then went at the crowd and said he didn’t need the knuckles to beat Cody and he could beat him fair and square. Rhodes then gave them to Ryan and said this was the difference between them.ย
“It’s a crutch. It’s another way to get another click. This Title on the other hand, it’s my whole life. It’s all I ever wanted to be. Every ounce of blood, of sweat, of cheers from these fans.,It’s the thing people hate about my family. The Rhodes are as real as real gets,” Rhodes said.
“Allow me to say something new. I don’t think of you as a YouTuber. I believe you’re a pro wrestler. I believe you’re a WWE superstar, but until you stop treating this part-time, until you respect the ring we are standing in, you will never be on my level. And tomorrow, I’m gonna beat you so bad, kid, that you will regret ever stepping foot in the ring with me,” Rhodes said, leaving Paul seething as the segment ended.
King and Queen of the Ring Updated Card:
King of the Ring final: Gunther vs. winner of Randy Orton/Tama Tonga
Queen of the Ring final: Lyra Valkyria vs. Nia Jax
Undisputed WWE Championship match: Cody Rhodes (c) vs. Logan Paul
Women’s World Championship match: Becky Lynch (c) vs. Liv Morgan
Triple threat match for Intercontinental Championship: Sami Zayn (c) vs. Chad Gable vs. Bronson Reed
What did you think of what Cody and Logan said on SmackDown? You can talk all things wrestling with me on Threads and Twitter @mattaguilarcb!
