A perfectly executed Cody Rhodes heel turn will overshadow 2025 John Cena mess

Cody Rhodes losing the WWE championship to Drew McIntyre on Friday night Smackdown has created endless possibilities for entertaining storylines throughout the entirety of 2026. One of those features Cody Rhodes turning heel, as many fans have theorized shortly after the match result.

That would mark the second time within a year that WWE has turned an all-time babyface into a heel, following the messy John Cena situation after least year's Elimination Chamber. That was one of the most shocking PLE's in history, but every wrestling fan knows that was an incomplete story because The Rock disappeared and hasn't made a WWE appearance since. The way Cena's heel run ended abruptly and fairly arbitrarily confirmed the plot was lost once it had gone largely unfulfilled.

This time, however, WWE can properly pull of a nuanced heel turn that will generate more eyeballs, a renewed popularity, and a much-needed creativity feather in their cap. An extended, well-thought-out Cody Rhodes heel turn would be remembered for generations.

Are we sure wrestling fans would even be ready for this? Sure, in his early years, Rhodes was unlikeable at various junctures of his WWE career from 2006-2016. His notoriety didn't fully take off until he was performing elsewhere from mid-2016 until his return in 2022, so any previously storyline didn't quite have the same pop.

This time around, though, Cody has been the face of the business for the last three or so years. He's been a well-liked face and has been on a notable, lengthy babyface run. Someone with this much popularity and an all-time favorable image as the center of a jarring narrative flip would be historic.

Some WWE fans might not be familiar with Rhodes the Heel, but it's been well documented in his various other stops. The man is ruthless in this role and would send the business into a frenzy if everybody was able to pull it off.

Rhodes attacking Kenny Omega in New Japan Pro Wrestling spawned a controversial heel run. The end of his AEW run featured an "ant-heel" heel run. Now's the chance to bring it all home and give him a full-blown, all-encompassing run as WWE's true bad guy. But how do they do it?

Is it a feud with Randy Orton, something that has legs from more than a decade ago? Is a new storyline with Jacob Fatu strong enough if they position it correctly? Is it a surprising pivot to something with CM Punk while WWE figures out what to do with Bron Breakker? We're just spitballing, but as you can see there are avenues.

Cody delivers the best promos in WWE right now. His magnetic energy and performing ability have made him one of the most successful babyfaces of all time — there's no denying his influence among those that love or hate him. What does that mean? The same theater with him as a destestable character will hit harder than ever.

We just saw how vitriolic Cena's short run as a heel was. He was booed mercilessly, more than anybody we've heard in quite some time. Cody would deliver similar results, but with true direction and a not-so-farfetched departure from who he's been since returning to WWE.