WWE Can't Make This Booking Mistake With Cody Rhodes at Night of Champions 2025

WWE could pull itself out of a main event rut pretty easily by leaning into Cody Rhodes as Night of Champions approaches. 

Yes, this includes the small idea of a heel turn somewhat mixed in, too. 

The men’s main event scene has been in a rut that isn’t exactly getting more exciting as the King of the Ring tournament winds to its conclusion. John Cena’s heel run has been a flop for many reasons fans fully understand and Jey Uso’s so-so run ended with another loss to Gunther, who will turn around and give Goldberg a match. 

So what’s this about Rhodes? 

Well, for starters, one can’t help but think about Seth Rollins and his faction right now. He’s on the outside looking in at this tournament and with a three-member group. That feels a little off and his group adding a fourth member would make a whole lot of sense, especially if it can wrap in a surprise. 

Part of that is because of the recent interaction between the two, too. On last week’s edition of Raw, Rollins was about to strike before Rhodes ran down to the ring to make the save. At first, Rollins looked peeved and a fight would happen, only for him to calm and then…sort of just go their separate ways, almost respectfully. 

Was that a small tease at something bigger or a one-off, perhaps even improvised? 

Either way, it’s not like Rhodes sticking as a babyface and just running the table in the KOTR tournament would be very fun. That would mean things get super predictable in the worst way as he’d just run to Cena and take that belt back with a feud probably ending at or around SummerSlam. 

The other KOTR outcomes aren’t all that appealing on their lonesome either. Uso just lost. Sami Zayn has a little bit of a good story working around him right now, but that being a long-term thing might make for a better end result. And Randy Orton is still Randy Orton, but it would be nice to see a real story built around it rather than just doing it for the sake of doing it. 

Here’s where it gets fun, though: Rhodes loses. Then he snaps. Sort of sees the light on how Rollins carries himself. Also takes a look over at Cena, who sold his soul while over the hill and doesn’t need to be squeaky clean to win titles. 

Maybe that spurs Rhodes to be the surprise fourth man in Rollins’ group. Some of the other possibilities fans have and will throw out aren’t nearly as exciting. A Drew McIntyre would make a little sense, sure. And fans have fantasy-booked Brock Lesnar into this latest situation, no doubt. Maybe a random call-up or complete curveball like Solo Sikoa, too. 

But Rhodes? That trumps everything. It would have the shock factor going for it, considering widely held speculation said that his refusal to turn heel played a part in his departure from AEW in the first place. He’s been a bit of a tweener at times in WWE since his return, but never a full-blown Homelander-like heel that a vocal portion of the fanbase has wanted to see. 

The overarching landscape of WWE right now has room for this, too. Uso has comfortably slotted into that super-over role with fans and will never shake free of it, moving those oh-so-important merchandise sales numbers, too. A heel Rhodes, over time, would actually be the perfect foil for Uso as a main-eventer, should WWE choose to keep him at that level. 

Much of this has to do with Cena, too. The heel run hasn’t worked for various reasons, be it The Rock, Travis Scott, messy promos, etc. But he’s obviously going back to the good side for his goodbye, which everyone continues to adamantly say won’t include a match at another WrestleMania. 

That leaves more room for another top heel wrestler like Rhodes who, on paper, could cheat and heel his way into ripping the title off Cena, fully sending him back to babyface land in the process as he hangs up the proverbial boots. 

And hey, it’s a little thing, but maybe Cena’s turn and remaining beloved by fans and even younger impressionable fans while heel inspires Rhodes a little to do the same. It’s temporary and not legacy-defining, after all. Plus, perhaps there’s a little motivation behind the idea he would be able to pull off the heel turn better, which might actually play a little bit in the legacy conversations if he can do it well. 

But again, this fun spiraling of ideas that can go many branching paths starts with WWE avoiding the mistake of just shoving Rhodes through the KOTR tournament in as predictable a fashion as possible. 

Rhodes just isn’t the answer right now, unless it’s losing and finding some character development along the way, perhaps even to heel land. The main-event scene demands something fresh that isn’t either a glorified Raw feud or a retiring legend fumbling through a heel turn while a ton of silly outside interference ruins it. 

That all translates to WWE needing to sidestep the mine that is Rhodes jumping back to the very top right now.