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Is WWE setting Cody Rhodes up for the ultimate heel turn? More and more signs point to yes

We all know how pro-wrestling works: It's all very predictable until suddenly it isn't. After last Friday's "WWE SmackDown" finale, we've been left with a classic example of that phenomenon — with the biggest hints yet that there could be a big change coming for Cody Rhodes.

It's certainly opportune timing. For weeks, most of us have assumed that we know exactly what's on the horizon for WWE's former Universal Champion — namely that he would win King of the Ring in Riyadh (which he did), before going to exact his revenge with a victory over John Cena at SummerSlam. Now it looks like there might be a wrench in the works.

We can speculate whether the heel turn is coming or not, but one thing is clear: If dark Cody is the plan for the future, then that segment on "SmackDown" was exactly the sort of thing you'd want to be doing in order to set things up for the big change.

Sure, we've seen "The American Nightmare" tap into what you might call his more ruthless side once or twice over the past year, but the version that turned up to Friday's contract signing seemed to take things much further. It also tapped into the previous storylines in a way that can't be entirely a coincidence.

We all remember the narrative from WrestleMania: The WWE's golden boy was defeated after he refused to abandon his principles and use the championship belt to strike Cena.

On Friday, Rhodes didn't just cross that line with abandon, but also forced the incapacitated Cena to sign the contract to set up their showdown in New Jersey.

If that weren't enough, social media sleuths pointed out that Rhodes just happened to be wearing that Rolex watch gifted to him by The Rock (and supposedly once owned by Dusty Rhodes) after last year's WrestleMania. A subtle touch, but one which begs an obvious question: Has he decided to sell his soul after all?

It would certainly fit with what The Rock suggested during his controversial appearance on "The Pat McAfee Show" back in April, when “The Final Boss” said the creative plan was to have Rhodes win back his title from Cena before embracing his dark side afterward. We all know how much influence The Rock has over creative plans, particularly since he joined the TKO board in 2024.

If heel Cody is being cooked up right now, you have to admire WWE's tenacity. Having already sacrificed one generational babyface to an underwhelming heel turn, the idea of running the same playbook on the man often seen as Cena's successor scores points for fearlessness if nothing else. You can say goodbye to all those charming scenes of Rhodes handing over his weight belt to adoring kids in the front row for a start.

And what about Cena — does he flip back to being good at the same time, given that we’re all expecting the end of this heel turn soon? Maybe that's how it works, with Cena and Rhodes reversing roles when The Rock's patronage passes from one to the other at SummerSlam (a bit like those horror movies, where the evil spirit jumps from one body to the next...).

As much as turning Cody heel would be a gamble, you could argue that WWE has at least done some work laying the seeds — much more than they ever did with John Cena. In 18 months, we've seen how Rhodes went from celebrating with his friends at WrestleMania XL to losing some of his longest-standing friendships — namely Kevin Owens and AJ Styles — in the months to follow.

Before this whole Cena thing came out of the blue back in March, I figured that was the direction we were going. Rhodes would carry on as the outwardly babyface champion who ends up inadvertently turning allies into enemies by showing more loyalty to his championship than his friends, until things finally come to a crescendo.

In my head, the whole storyline would be a Shakespearean-inspired reflection on how the weight of the crown eventually corrupts those who wear it, potentially leading to Cody Rhodes vs. Randy Orton at WrestleMania 41 or 42. Instead we got John Cena kicking Cody in the nuts in Elimination Chamber and everything changed overnight.

Is another one of those reset moments on the horizon? As always, there's a danger of overreacting, but I think the most likely interpretation of "SmackDown" is that WWE is at least keeping its options open for dark Cody.

It probably doesn’t make the main event at SummerSlam any less predictable — the constraints on John Cena’s schedule and the fact that it’s a stadium show surely have to tip the odds heavily in Cody's favor — but it does make things more interesting afterward. “The American Nightmare” as a heel? Given the circumstances, you certainly wouldn't rule it out.

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