WWE's Cody Rhodes Turning Heel? A Better Pick for Rock's Storyline, More Quick Takes

Amid criticism from fans that WWE's Road to WrestleMania 41 needed a bit of a boost of unpredictability, The Rock's return certainly throws everything into disarray, again.

For the second straight year, all signs point to WWE shifting plans toward the top of the card to accommodate The Final Boss, who has shifted his focus back to Cody Rhodes. This has led to speculation that a heel turn for the undisputed WWE champion is in order, which would be incredibly premature at this stage of Rhodes' main event run.

Their next confrontation at Elimination Chamber on Saturday will provide a better idea of where this storyline is headed and whether The American Nightmare will represent Rock as his corporate champ or not.

If The Final Boss is sticking around as WWE's authority antagonist, there are better fits for his surrogate than the beloved Rhodes.

Although Rock vs. Rhodes doesn't appear to be in the card for The Show of Shows this year, whoever ultimately accepts his offer is bound to have a direct effect on the champion's WrestleMania match, making matters in the coming months all the more intriguing.

This installment of Quick Takes will delve into WWE's possible plans for Rhodes and Rock, why Cope shouldn't be the next AEW world champion, who's getting pushed and who's not, and more.

Cody Rhodes Is Too Popular to Turn Heel Right Now

The Rock offering to take Rhodes to the “next level”—despite the undisputed WWE champion already being at the pinnacle of the industry—teases the idea of The American Nightmare going heel for the first time in years, a role he excelled at earlier in his career.

Seeds have been planted in the past and Rhodes will make for a fantastic villain one day, but it's too soon for him to be joining the dark side, especially when WWE doesn't have any main event-level babyfaces waiting in the wings capable of filling the massive void he'd leave behind.

Flipping the switch with the 39-year-old simply out of shock value wouldn't be worthwhile, either.

WWE made that mistake once before with “Stone Cold” Steve Austin at WrestleMania 17 by having him align with his archnemesis, Mr. McMahon, but the follow-up was weak and Austin was still at the peak of his popularity.

In many ways, it ended the Attitude Era, the company's most prosperous period, in anticlimactic fashion and did longstanding damage to the product.

Rhodes remains organically over with the fans and is the biggest babyface they've had in decades. His crowd reactions aren't nearly polarizing as John Cena's and Roman Reigns' once were, so it would be shortsighted to sabotage that for the sake of a storyline that arguably isn't necessary.

Finn Balor's Days as a Prioritized Singles Star Are Over

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In the near-nine years Finn Balor has been a part of the WWE main roster, his highest level of success came in his first month when he beat Roman Reigns in his Raw debut in July 2016 and became the inaugural universal champion with a win over Seth Rollins the very next month.

The Irishman has been firmly positioned as a midcarder ever since.

He's had his fair share of shots at world titles and has held gold across all three brands, but it's now painfully apparent that WWE sees him as having a certain ceiling and he won't ever be able to exceed that. Look no further than his string of singles losses over the last year and how he's largely been booked as a stepping stone for stars on the rise.

Last December, pro wrestling insider WrestleVotes indicated that a "sustained singles push" could be coming for Balor in 2025, but that has yet to materialize. Rather, there has been zero indication anything important for him is on the horizon aside from being exiled from The Judgment Day.

At this point, an extended absence from WWE TV and a potential return for his Demon persona might be best for Balor to avoid settling into the spot once occupied by Dolph Ziggler as the ex-world-champ-turned-utility-player.

Jon Moxley Losing AEW World Title Should Be Imminent, But Not to Cope

The Death Riders' decisive victory over the team of Cope and Jay White at Grand Slam: Australia was a baffling one, specifically with Jon Moxley choking out The Rated-R Superstar for the finish before they face off for the AEW World Championship at Revolution on March 9.

Cope has since said he intends to take out every member of Death Riders to ensure they don't interfere in his championship clash with Moxley, but there is also the possibility the veteran will be responsible for ending the titleholder's tyrannical reign.

The Rated-R Superstar has adapted well to the All Elite Wrestling environment over the last year and is a natural fit in the main event scene given his long list of accolades, but with the overarching story that's been told with Death Riders attempting to take over the company and the AEW originals stepping up to save it, Cope shouldn't be the one to dethrone him.

There are enough other options who would make much more sense, including "Hangman" Adam Page and Swerve Strickland. The former is already well on his way to regaining the gold, and the latter never received a proper rematch after losing the prestigious prize at August's All In pay-per-view.

Of course, there have been teases of Darby Allin eventually taking the title from Moxley, but that's entirely dependent on when he'll be back. The Death Riders angle is dying on the vine, and AEW needs to start building toward a title change on the sooner side.

Jimmy Uso's Forced Singles Push Shouldn't Come at Drew McIntyre's Expense

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The Rock's perplexing ultimatum to Cody Rhodes was the focal point coming out of Friday's SmackDown, but Jimmy Uso's shocking upset over Drew McIntyre was also newsworthy—if only because it was the wrong outcome.

The Scot has seemingly lost more singles matches than he's won in recent months with Sami Zayn being the only one he's actually beaten. Otherwise, he's racked up losses to the likes of Jey Uso, Seth Rollins, CM Punk and now Jimmy Uso, who isn't remotely on the same level as those other Superstars.

Jimmy wants to prove himself as a singles star every bit as much as Jey does, but Jey has a much stronger connection to the crowd and has experience wrestling in main events on his own.

At a time when SmackDown is loaded with talented upper-midcarders, Jimmy being primed as the next United States champion feels forced.

LA Knight, Carmelo Hayes and Andrade belong in the WrestleMania mix much more than Jimmy, not to mention that WWE can book a better bout for the star-spangled prize at the event than Uso against Shinsuke Nakamura.

As for McIntyre, it isn't yet clear what the remainder of the Road to WrestleMania will have in store for him, but it should be something significant.

Breaking Down Potential Options for The Rock's Surrogate

As noted, Cody Rhodes turning heel at this juncture would be illogical, but that doesn't mean WWE doesn't have the opportunity to turn this mess of a storyline into something special if properly executed.

The only thing bigger than Rhodes aligning with Rock would be a desperate John Cena making a deal with the devil and going rogue in exchange for a 17th world title win at WrestleMania 41.

As monumental of a moment as that would be, this would be the worst possible time for it with Cena being on his farewell tour and a majority of fans behind him.

CM Punk turning heel is another exciting idea, but similar to Stone Cold in 2001, the move would lack logic because it would go against everything his character has always stood for.

The Best in the World's heel turn will pack enough of a punch that he won't need authority overlord Rock as part of his act.

Seth Rollins and Randy Orton were the faces of The Authority over a decade ago, and it would be repetitive to run it back with them in that spot. Formerly known as The Chosen One, Drew McIntyre might be the only choice to make sense, in addition to Rhodes vs. The Scottish Warrior being a 'Mania-worthy attraction.

WWE must tread carefully with this angle to avoid Rock overshadowing not only whoever eventually aligns with him but also the rest of the Road to WrestleMania.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, has specialized in sports and entertainment writing since 2010. Visit his website, WrestleRant, and subscribe to his YouTube channel for more wrestling-related content.