During Cody Rhodes' final year in AEW, it was apparent that fans wanted him to turn heel. The American Nightmare seemed unwilling to pull the trigger on breaking bad, but there were glimpses of a new, slightly more villainous persona before he left the company.
In WWE, Rhodes has been pushed as a top babyface. His feud with John Cena saw fans cool on the Undisputed WWE Champion a little, but he remains one of the most popular Superstars on the roster.
Rhodes was a great heel in ROH and NJPW, and in an interview with Jimmy Traina, he opened up on whether a heel turn was ever discussed for his recent SummerSlam match with Cena (where most fans expected a double turn to take place).
"I play for the team. So if the coach tells me this is what we’re doing, I might have a question or two about it, but also, that’s the whole quarterback element. I’m going to run the play," Rhodes explained. "So when discussions like that and Unreal have kind of shed some light on this, but you have that writer’s room."
"You have Triple H, of course, the final boss always present, in a way, and Nick Khan, that would be a big discussion that we would all had," he continued. "That’s a discussion that this company, the way it’s done today, it’s a team effort. Hunter is going to make the call, but he’s got a good war room of people to weigh it all out."
Looking to the future, Rhodes said that he would be open to a heel turn. However, if and when he does it, he wants to create a persona that would be truly despised by audiences.
"Another year of record business. And that’s a big thing with potentially, if I ever were to go, you know, the dark side, ever go, bad guy. It’s definitely possible," he teased. "I feel like sometimes I’m too heavy-handed with how I say, ‘Oh no, it’ll never happen.’ Oh, I’m sure it’s possible. The more we rack up as a baby face, and the more I learn and build connections with the audience, the more complicated it becomes.|
"Because if it was to happen and then they start cheering it happen, then it wasn’t what we wanted it to be. It wasn’t effective. If that was ever a road to go down, I’d want to be basically canceled," Rhodes admitted. "I’d want to be scum of the earth, villain, and as I branched out my character and the American Nightmare and the brand and all the things, it becomes a lot more complicated."
You can watch the full interview with the Undisputed WWE Champion in the player below.