Cody Rhodes' choice of opponent "threw everybody off" on SmackDown, claims former WWE manager (Exclusive)

Former WWE manager Dutch Mantell spoke about Cody Rhodes handing out a championship opportunity on SmackDown. The American Nightmare picked Kevin Owens as his next challenger.

This week on SmackDown, KO rushed out to help Cody with a couple of steel chairs when The Bloodline surrounded the champ. After the confrontation, however, Rhodes turned to Owens and claimed that he wanted to defend the Undisputed WWE titles against him at Bash in Berlin.

On Sportskeeda Wrestling's Smack Talk podcast this week, Mantell explained that the segment threw off fans. He detailed that even Owen admitted that he didn't really earn the championship opportunity and yet Cody Rhodes insisted on giving him a shot at the Undisputed WWE Championship.

​

"Owens came to help him out when he was outnumbered. When those guys left, they got to talking. Cody started this interview by saying, 'Who should I face next?' Where are they in Berlin, the next pay-per-view? He says, 'I think it should be you, Kevin.' I think this threw everybody off because he's telling kind of where fans would say, 'Yeah what has he done?' But he brought it up first. He says, 'I hadn't done that much, I hadn't earned it.' And Cody keeps saying, 'It's gonna be you.' They leave the ring, they go back and talk to Nick Aldis and they explain that to him." [9:45 onwards]

Nick Aldis later made the match official and the two allies will be up against each other in a few weeks.

It will be interesting to see who comes out on top when Cody Rhodes and Kevin Owens take to the ring in Berlin, later this month.

---

If you use the quotes from this article, please embed the YouTube video and add an H/T to Sportskeeda for the transcript.

​