Are We Sure Cody Rhodes Is ACTUALLY Turning Heel In WWE? (WWE News)

Turning Cody Rhodes full blown heel could be an expensive decision that'd cost WWE "millions and millions of dollars", according to WrestleVotes. The website was asked during a Q&A to discuss Cody's heelish edge when warring with Randy Orton at Sunday Night's Main Event in Atlanta over the weekend.

At state of play in September 2026, WrestleVotes don't expect too much to change regarding Rhodes, and there's a simple reason for that: He remains one of the biggest merchandise sellers as a babyface, and WWE/TKO isn't keen to rock that boat whilst cash is still pouring into tills.

"The story should come first, but that’s not how they think about it", WrestleVotes added.

Continuing, they said that a full on villainous streak isn't "on the cards" for Cody going forwards. However, he might well mix things up a bit by displaying more of the violent tendencies he did vs. Orton at SNME. Randy bled heavily as Rhodes rained punches and weapon shots down on him. Then, Cody started to soften and have a change of heart as his old mentor begged for mercy.

One low blow and RKO later, we had a winner. This wasn't necessarily anything new for Rhodes, because he's teased going heel before 'seeing the light' before, so it was more of a continuation than any fresh character development.

In short, it'd be a surprise if WWE went all in on heel Cody whilst his merch is still flying off store shelves and filling company pockets. As WrestleVotes says: "The analytics matter".