12-time WWE champion will turn heel & challenge Cody Rhodes, says ex-employee (Exclusive)

Cody Rhodes recently retained his Undisputed WWE Championship in a gruelling match with Drew McIntyre at Wrestlepalooza. Following that win, he now turns his attention towards Crown Jewel, where he has to take on former foe-turned-friend Seth Rollins for the Crown Jewel Championship.

However, once that segment is over, Cody would need a new challenger for his title, and having already fought most of the big stars, creative needs to come up with a new name to keep things interesting. Ex-WWE employee Vince Russo claims that 12-time WWE champion Jey Uso will be Rhodes' next challenger.

Speaking on the latest episode of BroDown on Sportskeeda WrestleBinge, Russo said that the company will turn Jey Uso heel to make him Rhodes' next opponent. He criticized the move by stating that the only reason the promotion is undoing everything they did to make Jey a top babyface star is that they haven't built up any other credible challenger for Rhodes.

"Well, they're turning Jay heel to wrestle [Cody]. That's your answer right there. They're going to turn, they're literally turning Jey heel after everything they've done with him, Mac, because they don't have an opponent for Cody. That's why they're doing it. So, they're going to undo everything they did because their champion has no opponents," Russo said.

Jey Uso has recently been showing subtle signs of turning heel every week. He recently speared LA Knight unprovoked and has been getting into disagreements with Jimmy Uso in backstage segments. Jey is starting to sound and act more like how Roman Reigns was acting during his reign as the Undisputed WWE Champion. It would be poetic to see Jey win the belt Cody won from Reigns and bring the title back to the family.

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About the author

Faiz is a WWE writer at Sportskeeda Wrestling. He is a BBA graduate who is passionate about sports and wants to make a career in that field. This passion led to a postgraduate degree in Journalism, which helped him pivot into becoming a sports writer. When writing, he puts the utmost importance on accuracy and thorough research.

Faiz has six years of work experience across four companies. He started his career with Zomato and then moved to Amazon. He shifted to becoming a football writer at TV9 Digital and is now with Sportskeeda. He covered the Wrestling Xtreme Mania event in Gurgaon in 2025, where he had the opportunity to interview Raj The Maharaja, fka Jinder Mahal. At the same event, he also got quick interviews with former WWE Superstar Dijak and Japanese Joshi legend Emi Sakura.

When it comes to his favourite wrestlers, Faiz has two names in mind. He loved to watch Triple H before the current WWE CCO retired, and he is a huge fan of Roman Reigns. Being a loyal fan since the Tribal Chief's SHIELD days, Faiz credits Roman's mic skills and unmatched in-ring storytelling for his mega success. When he was young, one in-ring story left a lasting impression on his mind and eventually got him hooked on WWE. That match was Shawn Michaels vs. Ric Flair at WrestleMania 24. Apart from that, he is also a fan of RAW.

When Faiz is not writing for Sportskeeda, he loves to keep up with other sports. He is an avid cricket and football fan, a huge gamer, and loves playing some RPGs on the PlayStation.

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Edited by Faiz Ahmed