>>17552713Randy vs Cody angle has been planned since Cody came back, but the fans don't want to see heel Orton go after Cody. So Randy needs the belt, and either he turns heel while taking it from Cena, or Cody turns heel to take it back from him.
There are also long-term implications to this. Randy was always forbidden from the 16th reign by Vince, because Cena drew better for most of his career. Cena was kept at 16 reigns to keep from pissing off Flair. Now Flair is a non-issue, and Cena has been given one more reign than him, so Randy is now free to have 2 more title reigns before he retires, and then WWE has two wrestlers "greater than Flair."
At the same time, this will move Randy past Triple H's title record (they're tied at 14), and thus get heat off Triple H for over-promoting himself and fumbling the night 2 main event.
