Projecting the Most Likely Heel and Face Turns at WWE SummerSlam 2025
WWE SummerSlam 2025 is one of the most important wrestling events of the year.
This is a time when multiple championships will change hands and major stories will come to an end.
The show will also set the stage for the rest of the year with shocking twists and turns that have everyone talking.
Often in wrestling, this comes in the form of heel or face turns during or after major matches.
These moments will make SummerSlam special, but who are the most likely faces or heels to turn in dramatic fashion come Saturday and Sunday at MetLife Stadium?
Face: John Cena; Heel: Cody Rhodes
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John Cena delivered one of the most shocking heel turns in WWE history when he beat down Cody Rhodes at Elimination Chamber on March 1.
This set him up for a final villain role that differed significantly from what he had done through most of his WWE career.
It has been an up-and-down journey where The Champ has already teased multiple times that he might have gone too far to commit to his new goals.
This story could be coming to a head in his second match against The American Nightmare.
CM Punk established clearly that the WWE Championship is a corrupting force that can turn even the best men cruel and seemed to think Cena would be himself again if he lost the gold.
Cena vs. Rhodes II has a chance to deliver a dramatic shift in story for The Last Real Champ, pushing him back to redemption for the final months of his 2025 retirement tour.
This would require Rhodes to defeat Cena at SummerSlam, which feels like the more likely option over The Last Real Champ retaining.
If the result of this match does push Cena face, it leaves an extra question for Rhodes. Will this match reaffirm his status as the top guy or push him down a darker path?
Sunday's Street Fight will get brutal fast, and anything is legal in this format. With the leveled playing field, The American Nightmare has already teased being willing to do anything to regain the Undisputed WWE Championship.
Ostensibly, this is to stop The Last Real Champ from "ruining wrestling" as he has said he would many times. However, Rhodes could well be seeking the title for more selfish reasons.
He put so much value into being the WWE champion, and his desperate pursuit of the gold has felt more uncertain than his first march to the title.
While a true double turn in the main event would be expecting too much, it feels like these men are on opposite paths in their 2025 journeys.
Heel: Sami Zayn
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Sami Zayn vs. Karrion Kross has carried on for much of 2025 with a simple premise: Zayn cannot be the truly good man he says he is.
Kross has turned many good men bad in his WWE career, but he has rarely gotten over for it himself.
His feud with Zayn ends at SummerSlam. The result will define his future and likely have a direct impact on the future of The Ultimate Underdog.
This could end with Zayn reaffirming he is the one man Kross cannot corrupt, but it could also push him down a different path.
The most interesting option would be to deliver a double turn, playing off the crowd's love for Kross.
The Herald of Doomsday can push Zayn to admit to his darkest thoughts and embrace them in his pursuit of the world title.
Nothing has worked so far for Zayn as a babyface chasing his world championship moment.
A more outwardly devious Zayn could be the missing element to make him a top guy in 2025 and beyond.
Face: Liv Morgan
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Liv Morgan is out with a dislocated shoulder, but WWE has recently teased she might return soon.
Her name has been frequently mentioned on WWE television while Roxanne Perez has taken over her spot, both as champion and Dominik Mysterio's protector.
Morgan could return during either the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship or Intercontinental Championship match.
In either case, she will be pushed into a role that is adversarial to The Judgment Day.
Finn Bálor has taken over the group in her absence and brought success to it again as every member holds gold.
Morgan will likely look to pull Rodriguez and Dirty Dom away from The Prince, but it is unclear whether she will be successful after her time away.
No matter what, it's hard to see the former women's world champion remaining a heel.
Heel: Bayley
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Bayley is not booked for SummerSlam, and it is clearly weighing on The Role Model.
Last year, she walked into the premium live event as WWE women's champion and was in the process of elevating her legacy.
Nothing has gone right for her since, though. She missed WrestleMania 41 and now SummerSlam, and she is growing frustrated by these big-show absences.
All signs are pointing to Bayley making a dramatic turn soon, and it could well be at the expense of Lyra Valkyria on Sunday.
She could take out The Valkyrie before her match with Becky Lynch, cost her during the contest or take her out afterward.
No matter what, the path forward for Bayley looks connected to Valkyria, and they fit more as opponents than partners going forward.
Lynch's role is uncertain when it comes to The Role Model, but aligning the veterans would be an intriguing move.
Heel: Jade Cargill
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It is rare for WWE to deliver a high-profile face vs. face world title match, as the company primarily focuses on the dynamic between faces and heels.
This change in mood is clear in the build for Tiffany Stratton vs. Jade Cargill as the dynamic between these two women is nebulous.
With both seeking a top role in the company going forward, the current WWE women's champion has a stronger connection to the fans.
Cargill is still figuring it out in comparison, and it is hard to imagine her supplanting Stratton at this stage as a face.
It would make more sense if The Storm turned heel in this rivalry, either during the match or in its aftermath.
Fans will root for The Center of the Universe to get back to the gold, and Cargill can repeatedly question why she should give her that opportunity.
This story would benefit from the change, but The Storm would also shine more with that opportunity.
Cargill could lean more into her attitude and set the stage for a seemingly inevitable clash with Bianca Belair somewhere down the line.
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