Cody Rhodes 'Very Open' To WWE Heel Turn

Cody Rhodes is "very open" to turning heel in WWE, although he acknowledged that some fans already perceive him to be a heel to the point he believed he would get booed on the post-Crown Jewel edition of Monday Night Raw when he said he loved punting Randy Orton during their Last Man Standing Match.

After being asked on ESPN's Unsportsmanlike about turning heel and aligning with Paul Heyman, Rhodes stated:

"Very interesting. I have a unique relationship with Mr Heyman because of his relationship with my dad… There’s more exposition in that. People ask me all the time why we get along. He has a really unique relationship and reputation in sports entertainment, pro wrestling. On the pod we talked a lot about why it is and there’s a sense of loyalty. I’m really open. That’s the biggest thing that I tell people all the time with you’re gonna make that shift and you’re gonna go heel or you stay babyface, whatever it is, whatever’s best for WWE, but we are starting to get into an area where if you think I’m a heel, then I’m already a heel. I’m not trying to make it so you can’t get what you want, but if you think I’m a heel, I might already be a heel because we have a whole other side of it that doesn’t think that. Prime example, I went out there the other day and said, ‘I loved punting Randy Orton. I loved it.’ I tried to put a little growl in it and they just cheered. I thought, ‘Oh, I thought they were going to boo.’ That’s the beautiful thing about our fans. There’s no wrong way to be a fan. You can’t guess which direction.

"To hit it on the head a little more specifically, if something like Heyman or someone else, me as a heel would take a lot away from what I currently do. It would probably add in its own way. It’s different, I think it looks different than people think… I’m very open to it. I think everyone in creative always – Triple H is the one guiding the ship here and I think when something like that, when it’s time, we won’t miss that opportunity. But if it’s never time, I’m sorry, I don’t know."

Cody Rhodes has been a babyface in professional wrestling since the summer of 2018 when he made the save for Kenny Omega following their IWGP Heavyweight Title match at NJPW G1 Special in San Francisco to end their feud over the Bullet Club leadership.

Rhodes was notably resistant to turning heel during his All Elite Wrestling tenure between 2019 and 2022 to the point Cody said he would retire before becoming a heel. As evidenced by Rhodes' latest comments, though, that stance has softened in recent years and the three-time WWE Champion admitted in June of 2025 that he believed he was at the tail end of his current babyface run. This came just months after The Rock pitched for Cody Rhodes to turn heel at Elimination Chamber 2025 but WWE rejected the idea, with John Cena turning heel instead.

Cody Rhodes has plenty of time to turn heel in WWE as he signed a five-year contract extension earlier this year.

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