"I didn't even know" - Ex-WWE star on losing his title to Cody Rhodes at short notice
Ezekiel Jackson did not know he was booked to lose the Intercontinental Championship to Cody Rhodes until the day of the title change.
Jackson, a WWE Superstar between 2007 and 2014, looked set to defend the Intercontinental Championship at SummerSlam 2011. However, just two days before the event, he lost the title in a match against Rhodes on the August 12, 2011 episode of SmackDown.
In a recent interview on the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast, Jackson said he initially wanted the match to occur at SummerSlam:
“I’m like, ‘Cool, we’ll probably make it to SummerSlam. I get my SummerSlam match with Cody, whatever, which way, I’m ready for whatever.’ To lose the title the SmackDown before SummerSlam was really weird. I was like, ‘I really couldn’t get a SummerSlam match?’ I showed up and I didn’t even know I was losing the title that night.” [49:28-49:55]
Jackson unsuccessfully challenged Rhodes in an Intercontinental Championship rematch on the post-SummerSlam 2011 episode of SmackDown. Rhodes went on to hold the title for 234 days before losing to The Big Show at WrestleMania 28.
Ezekiel Jackson expected big things after his loss to Cody Rhodes
#OnThisDay in 2011: SD Taping: @CodyRhodes defeated Ezekiel Jackson to win the WWE Intercontinental Title. https://t.co/9WfrxmPJDM
Ezekiel Jackson thought WWE’s higher-ups booked him to lose the Intercontinental Championship because they wanted to move him closer to the main-event scene.
As it turned out, the former ECW World Heavyweight Champion moved further down the card after his title loss.
“I just found out from Cody. He’s like, ‘Oh, so you’re dropping the title to me.’ ‘Oh, okay.’ But, again, they were building Cody. I thought, ‘Okay, cool, maybe I’m going to this [higher] level now. I’m ready to move on.’ It just fell off. Backstage I was doing Superstars and then I was doing NXT dancing with The Great Khali,” Jackson added. [49:56-50:23]
While Jackson left WWE eight years ago, Cody Rhodes’ return to the company has been widely speculated ever since his exit from AEW was confirmed. WWE even subtly referenced the two-time Intercontinental Champion multiple times on the latest episode of RAW.
Please credit the Two Man Power Trip of Wrestling podcast and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling if you use quotes from this article.