Major Update On Cody Rhodes' WWE Booking, Heel Turn Plans Clarified (WWE News)

WWE reportedly used a bit of "strategic misdirection" when teasing a Cody Rhodes heel turn recently, both on television/PLE and in the media. Internal sources told WrestleVotes that a heel swerve is most definitely not in the works - those sources also told the site that Cody won't be turning into a bad guy for "the foreseeable future".

There's still strong interest behind the scenes in promoting Rhodes as the company's top babyface, but everyone involved knew exactly what they were doing by dropping teasers all over the place. Cody himself said in June that he was "probably at the tail end" of his babyface run on top. That sparked all sorts of chatter about whether or not WWE would pull the trigger on a legitimately fresh-feeling heel move.

Some even had it on their prediction cards heading into SummerSlam's rematch vs. John Cena, especially when Cena returned to playing baby himself on SmackDown right before the PLE. According to WrestleVotes, that just isn't going to happen, at least not for a good while.

Cody intentionally misled portions of the fanbase to engage with a "more hardcore audience" and see what people might start saying about the prospect of him going rogue. A mixture of excitement about the possibilities and fears that WWE were jumping into something they didn't need to would sum up overall feeling online about Rhodes teasing the change.

Marketing Might Means Cody's Babyface Status Will Be Retained

Cody has been WWE's top babyface since rejoining the company in early-2022. Impressively, he's been able to sustain his smiling good guy act for over 3 years now, largely because people believe in what Rhodes is selling. There's nothing fake about him. He wears classy suits (even to the beach if recent social snaps are anything to go by!) as a general rule, is a top class, media trained ambassador for the promotion, and a heartfelt wish to make the memory of his father Dusty proud constantly feels genuine.

Part of WWE's hesitance when it comes to turning Cody heel is born from knowing full well what kind of marketing might he has. Rhodes remains a top merchandise seller, and he's been able to forge several lucrative, mainstream sponsorship deals with outfits like Minute Maid and Wheatley's Vodka.

Turning him heel when he's on millions of juice cartons across the United States with a beaming smile could be seen as awkward timing from WWE's creative team. Anyone who watched the Unreal documentary series on Netflix knows how in-depth they go when mapping character plans out. Creative have to work in sync with the marketing department to make sure the right hand is talking to the left.

In short, don't expect to see Cody flirt with a heel edge in coming weeks and months. He'll remain WWE's top good guy for a while.

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