Why Cody Rhodes and Bron Breakker Must Turn at SummerSlam 2025

The idea of major pro wrestling Superstars turning heel, especially in some of the top spotlights of the year, isn’t new by any stretch. 

But WWE seems uniquely positioned to pull off not one, but two major heel turns that can change everything for the company and fans at SummerSlam near the start of August. 

The names of the wrestlers in question might not shock fans: Bron Breakker and Cody Rhodes. 

Ramifications of both turns, though, would come with the potential to register as downright historic. That’s fitting, really, as one could already consider this the year of the heel turn after John Cena finally did it not all that long ago. 

Rhodes might get the most eyerolls from fans here. He’s the top dog babyface who returned to WWE, had the memorable fight through a pec injury and the meddling from corporate Rock-type characters before and after finally taking down Roman Reigns. There’s that idea online that his refusal to turn heel even played a part in his AEW exit. 

Fair or not, though, there’s some really compelling storytelling baked into a Rhodes heel turn. Beyond the silly “sell soul to Rock” thing that sort of played a part in the narrative, Rhodes refused to go bad at times when Cena practically begged him on to do it. 

If WWE flipped things over at SummerSlam and Rhodes went heel to beat Cena and reclaim his undisputed title, the resulting branching paths would be super interesting. A heelish Rock-like and corporate-aligned Rhodes at the very top of the company would keep things fresh at a time when Cena returns to the good side before retiring. 

The feuds would be incredible, too, in the sense that, say, a good guy Randy Orton attempting to take Rhodes down would be fun. If Reigns got involved with him again, too, it would keep the OTC (OTC1, now, it seems) in the good graces of fans, too.

WWE has the bandwidth for this, too. The old-school excuses about faces of the company and merchandise sales, etc, smack hollow. Jey Uso is right there and capable of doing those things while Rhodes plays the heel. So is LA Knight, Drew McIntyre, CM Punk, the list is long. 

More interesting to fans for the sheer sake of its freshness, though, might be Breakker turning face at SummerSlam. 

Again, there’s a layup right there of a story. Everything around Seth Rollins is sort of in suspended animation right now while awaiting possible injury news for the Money in the Bank briefcase holder. 

There’s a Paul Heyman factor worth considering, though. He’s long been known as the snake-like guy who jumps from one sure thing to the next. His betraying Rollins and only rolling with Breakker for the second half of the year might give off shades of a young Brock Lesnar career arc. 

Story threads are right there, too. Maybe it doesn’t happen in an official match. What if, for example, Rollins comes back faster than anyone expected for SummerSlam and attempts to cash in his briefcase for what will be a very obvious title win and yet another heist on his resume…only for Breakker to ruin it at Heyman’s command? 

That’s money printed, easy. Breakker becomes despised by the rest of the group, Rollins is more over than ever and frankly, it’s one heck of a origin story for the company’s next big thing. 

As things stand now, WWE enjoys an embarrassment of riches across its historic roster, which means an embarrassment of options. Rhodes going heel doesn’t create some babyface vacuum they can’t fix. Rather, there would be near-endless Superstars capable of stepping into that void as foils for each, whether it’s some of the mentioned names or new, unexpected faces. 

Were WWE to get this wild (again, never say never, especially so soon after the Cena turn), Rhodes main-eventing ‘Mania as a heel and Breakker getting a prominent spot on the card, if not with a title around his waist, too, would be the perfect now-later balance for the card. 

This isn’t meant to suggest that things can go other interesting ways for these stars. But if Rhodes loses at SummerSlam and leaves, that’s disappointing. His skirting off to Hollywood for a bit after a win and heel turn, though, might just work. And if he sticks around as a babyface after a win, frankly, that’s been done too much already. 

Breakker has a little more flexibility in this area, as storytellers as talented as Rollins and Heyman can still squeak out some really interesting stuff for months at a time around teasing a heel turn as the group frays closer and closer to breaking up. 

Still, those more generic routes feel a little more old-school WWE at a time we’re in the era of the Cena heel turn. Taking bolder swipes at memorable moments with big names is a good move. If it doesn’t work, this is pro wrestling, WWE can walk things back pretty quickly and fans are meta enough now to at least appreciate the effort. 

Rhodes and Breakker, though? Those are character turns just begging to happen on a stage as big as SummerSlam to really spice up the following months into the winter.