Cody Rhodes Gives Intriguing New Answer to WWE Heel Turn Question

Will Cody Rhodes turn heel? It's a question fans have been asking since he returned to the WWE in 2022. It's on his mind, too, and he spoke about it in a new interview on Wednesday.

Over the weekend at WWE Crown Jewel, Rhodes wrestled and defeated Randy Orton. The match was a Last Man Standing match, which meant that Rhodes needed to beat Orton up so badly that he'd be unable to answer a ten-count.

The underlying story of the feud between Orton and Rhodes was whether or not Rhodes would stoop to low tactics to get the win.

Cody Rhodes defeats Randy Orton at WWE Crown Jewel | WWE

During his match with Orton, Rhodes did just that. He tried to win the match with moves like the Cody Cutter and Cross Rhodes, but a punt kick to Orton's head was what did the trick. The punt kick is a vicious move that Orton made famous years ago.

On Raw this week, Rhodes appeared and told the audience he loved the feeling that punting Orton brought him. Is that a heel turn? Not exactly. The crowd cheered him, which is what makes a potential heel turn so complicated.

Cody Rhodes is open to a heel turn

During an interview with ESPN on Unsportsmanlike, Rhodes gave the green light and said he was ok with becoming a bad guy. At the same time, he recognized the difficulty given how popular a star he's become.

“I’m very open to it,” Rhodes said regarding a heel turn someday. “I think everyone in creative always — Triple H is the one guiding the ship here. 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.”

Rhodes also addressed the difficulty in turning heel and used his promo from this week as an example. Rhodes said he tried to make that promo a little grittier than normal, but it was cheered by the audience.

“We are starting to get into an area where if you think I’m a heel, then I’m already a heel," Rhodes said. "I’m not trying to make it so that 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 night, wherever we were, and I said, ‘I loved punting Randy Orton.’ I tried to put a little growl in it and they just cheered. And I thought, ‘Oh, I thought they were going to boo. So that’s the beautiful thing about our fans. There’s no wrong way to be a fan. You can’t guess which direction."

Now that Rhodes has finished his story with Randy Orton, he will turn his attention to Survivor Series. Rhodes is the captain of Team USA against Team Mexico in a traditional Survivor Series tag team match. Rey Mysterio will captain Team Mexico.

WWE Survivor Series airs live on ESPN Unlimited and Netflix internationally on November 28. Other announced matches include 946 vs. The Bloodline inside WarGames and Becky Lynch vs. Liv Morgan for the WWE Women's World Heavyweight Championship.

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