Should Cody Rhodes Turn Heel? The Case For, the Case Against and Our Verdict
Should Cody Rhodes turn heel? For most of the last four years, the question barely came up. Rhodes came back to WWE at WrestleMania 38 in 2022 as the clearest good guy on the roster, and he has stayed that way through three Undisputed WWE Championship reigns. In November 2026, Rhodes himself brought it up. He said he is "very open" to becoming a bad guy, explained exactly how he would do it, and then said he does not expect it to happen. We covered his comments in full in Cody Rhodes on a heel turn.
He is not a heel. He is the captain of Team USA at Survivor Series: WarGames on November 28. But the question is now out in the open, so here is the case for it, the case against it, and where we stand.
Cody Rhodes in 2026 so far
It has been a year of ups and downs. Rhodes started 2026 as champion, lost the Undisputed WWE Championship to Drew McIntyre in a Three Stages of Hell match on the January 9 SmackDown after Jacob Fatu interfered, and won it back from McIntyre on March 6. He beat Randy Orton on Night 1 of WrestleMania 42 and Gunther at Clash in Italy, before losing the title to Sami Zayn in a triple threat with Gunther at Night of Champions on June 27.
Since then he has lost more than he has won. He challenged CM Punk at SummerSlam and lost after Orton interfered, and he lost to Orton at Sunday Night's Main Event on September 6. He finally ended the Orton feud by winning a Last Man Standing match at Crown Jewel on November 7, and parts of the crowd turned on him during that match. Across his three title reigns, Rhodes held the Undisputed WWE Championship for 650 days: 378, 159 and 113.
The case for a heel turn
His babyface story is finished. Rhodes came back with one goal, to win the title his father never won, and he did it at WrestleMania 40 in 2024. He then won it twice more. A babyface works best when he is chasing something, and there is nothing left for this version of Rhodes to chase. Every new feud is a variation on the same idea.
Some of the crowd has already decided. Rhodes said it himself: a part of the audience boos him and sees him as fake or pretentious. The reaction at Crown Jewel showed it is not only online. When a section of the crowd turns on a babyface, WWE can fight it for years, as it did with John Cena, or it can use it.
He already has a reason. The best heel turns come from something real. Rhodes said fans hold him to an impossible standard and complain about what he did not do even after he gives them something big. That criticism exists, so a turn built on it would not need to be invented. Fans would understand why he snapped, even while they boo him for it.
He has a plan that fits the character. Rhodes said he would explain himself once and never speak again, letting someone else talk for him. He also said he wants a small group of his own on TV. A cold, silent champion with a mouthpiece and a stable is a very different act from anything Rhodes has done in WWE, and that difference is the point.
Big turns can rebuild a star. Hulk Hogan turning in 1996 to start the nWo is the famous example. More recently, Seth Rollins turning on The Shield in 2014 made him a main eventer. A turn at the right time does not end a career at the top. It can extend it.
The case against
Rhodes does not want it, and he explained why. He said a turn needs resentment and he does not have much, because he feels he has been given everything a wrestler can get. A heel turn that the performer does not believe in usually shows on screen.
WWE needs him as a babyface. Since 2022, Rhodes has been the face of WWE's biggest shows, and the man WWE puts in front of new audiences on Netflix, ESPN and Disney. Rhodes pointed to those partners himself. Turning him means someone else has to take that spot, and WWE would have to be sure that person is ready.
Not every big turn works. In 2001, in Houston, Steve Austin turned heel at WrestleMania X-Seven by joining Vince McMahon. It was one of the biggest moments of the era, but fans wanted to cheer him, and by the end of that year he was back to being a fan favourite. A turn on a star the audience still loves can be undone by the audience.
Most crowds still cheer him. The boos are real, but they are not everywhere. As long as most arenas still sing along to his entrance, WWE has no business reason to rush it.
Our verdict: yes, but not in Houston
We think Rhodes should turn, and that the strongest argument is the simplest one. His story as a babyface reached its end at WrestleMania 40. Everything since has been a repeat, and the losses to Punk and Orton this year have made him look like a man going in circles. A turn would give him something new to play, and Rhodes, who spent years as a heel in his first WWE run, knows how to play one.
The idea he described is also better than most heel turns WWE has done. One promo, no apologies, and then silence, with a mouthpiece and a group doing the work, would make him colder and more distant than any heel on the roster. It is an old formula, and it works because the less a heel explains, the harder it is for fans to forgive him.
What we would not do is turn him at Survivor Series. Turning on Team USA, in a match built around national pride, would be a cheap shock with no real reason behind it. The turn has to come from the reason Rhodes himself gave: the fans. That needs a build, a moment where he gives the crowd everything and still hears the complaints, so that when he finally speaks, the audience already knows why.
Rhodes said the longer WWE waits, the less likely a turn becomes. He is probably right, which is another reason not to wait too long. For now, he is a babyface, and he will lead Team USA against Rey Mysterio's Team Mexico in Houston. Read more in Cody Rhodes as Team USA captain and our Team USA vs. Team Mexico breakdown.
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