{"id":237896,"date":"2026-04-11T06:08:51","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T06:08:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/11\/3-reasons-why-cody-rhodes-undisputed-wwe-championship-got-stolen-on-smackdown\/"},"modified":"2026-04-11T06:08:51","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T06:08:51","slug":"3-reasons-why-cody-rhodes-undisputed-wwe-championship-got-stolen-on-smackdown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/11\/3-reasons-why-cody-rhodes-undisputed-wwe-championship-got-stolen-on-smackdown\/","title":{"rendered":"3 Reasons why Cody Rhodes\u2019 Undisputed WWE Championship got stolen on SmackDown"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-content\" data-postid=\"5152117\" data-slug-id=\"2765678\">\n<div class=\"vidazoo-player-container\">\n<span class=\"vidazoo-close-btn  hidden \"><br \/>\n<img data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/cmc-predictor\/v2\/cross-icon.png?w=40\" width=\"20\" height=\"20\" alt=\"close\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The latest episode of WWE SmackDown wasn&#8217;t a great night for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/player\/cody-rhodes\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Cody Rhodes<\/a>. During the show, the American Nightmare had a heated conversation with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/wwe\/4-names-part-pat-mcafee-s-bigger-picture-wwe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Pat McAfee<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The former commentator took shots at the Prodigal Son and dragged his past Stardust character in the Stamford-based promotion. Rhodes wasn&#8217;t allowed to attack McAfee because his superiors protected him.<\/p>\n<p><template id=\"template__newsletter-inline-banner-form-combo-widget\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"wrapper\">\n<p><img id=\"subscribe-img\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\nThanks for the submission!\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<p>In between this, Randy Orton destroyed Jelly Roll backstage. This distraction led to McAfee and the Viper attacking the Prodigal son. Following this, they captured the Undisputed WWE Championship and stole it from the American Nightmare.<\/p>\n<p>In the aftermath, Orton handed the title to McAfee, and they left the arena. After all this development, let&#8217;s discuss three reasons why Rhodes&#8217; Undisputed Championship got stolen on SmackDown ahead of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/go\/wrestlemania\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">WrestleMania 42<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><template id=\"also-read-articles-template\"><\/p>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h2>#3. To ignite more heat for Pat McAfee &amp; Randy Orton<\/h2>\n<div class=\"sportskeeda-embed\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/wwe\/twitter-embed\">\n<div class=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/wwe\/twitter-embed\">\n<div class=\"profile-card\">\n<p><span><span>Pat McAfee has stolen Cody Rhodes WWE title #SmackDown<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Initially, when the feud between Orton and Rhodes started on SmackDown, the Viper received a massive positive reaction, despite being a heel in the storyline.<\/p>\n<p>However, since Pat McAfee&#8217;s inclusion in the storyline, the storyline took a drastic turn. Now, he is getting heat from the audience, which is affecting the Apex Predator&#8217;s reactions as well.<\/p>\n<p>The reason Cody&#8217;s Undisputed Title was stolen on the blue brand was that WWE intended to ignite a stronger negative reaction for Pat and Orton. This allows the company to position the Prodigal Son as an underdog in this feud, helping him get a big positive reaction at the WrestleMania stage.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h2>#2. WWE wants to center McAfee as the main attraction<\/h2>\n<p>With the Undisputed Title stolen just a few days before WrestleMania 42, Pat McAfee will likely walk in with the Championship at the Show of the Shows.<\/p>\n<p>The reason the TKO-led promotion took the title away from the American Nightmare on the blue brand was that it led to Pat McAfee getting the main attraction at Mania.<\/p>\n<p>Already, there are reports that WWE talents are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/wwe\/rumor-wwe-talent-worried-unhappy-just-before-wrestlemania-42-reports?fbclid=IwY2xjawREC0VleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFFZjBFRFpUTWdSRU56R3ZPc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHuiaxRO0pgklTlgItK0595b8F9ZGlczyyhVChI8kMrRGo31h2WpuD7t4Qqv2_aem_vgrg9KX6eSYTvsBlykm3lg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">unhappy<\/a> with the TKO&#8217;s creative changes.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;The other thing is there\u2019s a lot of concern right now about, like, is this setting a precedent for more of this in the future? Is it going to be a thing now where if business isn\u2019t completely gangbusters, selling out all the tickets, is Ari just going to pop in anytime things are sagging behind? Is he just going to pop in and go, \u2018All right, Hunter, Clavicular this weekend?\u2019\u201d source revealed.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>So it seems that despite these reports, Ari Emanuel has no plans to stop pushing the 38-year-old star on the Friday Night show.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<h2>#1. Part of poor storyline development<\/h2>\n<div class=\"sportskeeda-embed\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/wwe\/twitter-embed\">\n<div class=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/wwe\/twitter-embed\">\n<div class=\"profile-card\">\n<p><span><span>Pat McAfee and Randy Orton vs. Cody Rhodes and Jelly Roll is reportedly planned for \u2018BACKLASH\u2019 2026. (via @WONF4W)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The WWE Universe is truly unhappy with the storyline progression of the Randy Orton vs Cody Rhodes storyline. So, Rhodes getting his Championship stolen is seemingly part of the poor storyline development.<\/p>\n<p>It appears that the Triple H-led promotion has nothing major to do ahead of WrestleMania 42. Considering this, they pulled the angle of the Championship getting stolen on SmackDown.<\/p>\n<p>This adds a minor development to the overall WWE storyline, with little relevance.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-post-rating-widget\">\n<p><template id=\"post-rating-feedback-modal-template\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-feedback-box\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-content\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-data\">\n<p>Why did you not like this content?<\/p>\n<p><textarea id=\"dislike-feedback-text\" rows=\"4\" placeholder=\"Please type your feedback...\"\/>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<button class=\"close\">Cancel<\/button><br \/>\n<button class=\"submit\">Submit<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-widget-parent hidden\">\n<div class=\"rating-parent-container\">\n<div class=\"rating-content-holder\">\n<p>Was this article helpful?<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-action-container\">\n<div class=\"like-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-like-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"like\" title=\"like article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"like selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dislike-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-dislike-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"dislike\" title=\"dislike article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-dis-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"avatar selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\nThank You for feedback\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"tag-cloud\">\n<div class=\"tags-text\">\n<div class=\"scrollable-content-holder  article-padding\">\n<p class=\"article-p  \">Quick Links<\/p>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerLeft\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Left \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img style=\"background: none;\" data-lazy=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-left.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button><\/p>\n<nav id=\"pnProductNav\" class=\"pn-ProductNav\">\n<\/nav>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerRight\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Right \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img style=\"background: none;\" data-lazy=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-right.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<p>More from Sportskeeda<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<span class=\"publisher-name\">Edited by Angana Roy<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/wwe\/3-reasons-cody-rhodes-undisputed-wwe-championship-got-stolen-smackdown\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The latest episode of WWE SmackDown wasn&#8217;t a great night for Cody Rhodes. During the show, the American Nightmare had a heated conversation with Pat McAfee. The former commentator took shots at the Prodigal Son and dragged his past Stardust character in the Stamford-based promotion. Rhodes wasn&#8217;t allowed to attack McAfee because his superiors protected [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":237897,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6806],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-237896","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gossip"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=237896"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237896\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/237897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=237896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=237896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=237896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}