How Shift in Plans Changed Creative Fates of Cody Rhodes and Gunther

With WWE Backlash upon us this weekend, a new report has emerged regarding a huge shift in creative plans for both Cody Rhodes and Gunther.

Following WrestleMania 42, plans were seemingly set for the direction of Cody Rhodes and Randy Orton heading into Backlash. Following their match in the main event of night one, Orton viciously attacked Rhodes, hitting him with a vintage punt. A move that The Viper hasn't broken out in many years. This appeared to set the stage for a rematch between these two men at Backlash.

Originally, plans called for Orton to defeat Rhodes for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 42, setting up a tag match at Backlash pitting Rhodes and Jelly Roll against Orton and Pat McAfee. Clearly, these plans were altered due to the negative fan reaction to McAfee's involvement in the storyline. But why isn't Orton facing Rhodes this weekend at Backlash?

Randy Orton's injury status might have changed Cody Rhodes' creative direction

According to Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Orton punting Rhodes following their match at WrestleMania 42 was done to continue their story following WWE's biggest show of the year without the involvement of Pat McAfee or Jelly Roll.

However, it was also reported that Orton was "hurting" physically heading into the match. With Orton disappearing from WWE programming following such a big moment, it certainly lends credence to the idea that Orton worked the match against Rhodes with an injury.

This could also be another reason why the title didn't change hands at WrestleMania: if Orton isn't healthy enough to appear and compete, there was no reason to make the title change. So with Orton out of the picture for the time being, Rhodes needed a new challenger. Thus changing the creative direction of another top star.

Gunther was penciled in to feud with Roman Reigns

Last week on SmackDown, Cody Rhodes was on the shocking end of an attack from Raw Superstar Gunther. This led many to believe that the two would face off at Backlash for the WWE Championship, but the match was never officially announced for the show.

Meltzer notes that coming out of WrestleMania, WWE has big plans for Gunther on Raw. Initially, The Ring General was set to have a short feud with LA Knight, who had also disappeared from WWE programming as of late, before being paired up with The Tribal Chief to feud over the World Heavyweight Championship.

Now that Gunther is interlocked with Cody Rhodes for the time being, it will be interesting to see what WWE does with Roman Reigns and Jacob Fatu at Backlash, as it will likely set up the future of The Bloodline storyline going all the way to SummerSlam.

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