Cody Rhodes must dethrone John Cena & turn heel due to one major reason, says veteran (Exclusive)

The main event of WWE SummerSlam 2025, featuring John Cena and Cody Rhodes is one that is highly anticipated among the fans. The show, which is expected to be packed with a host of amazing matches, will be the first ever two-night SummerSlam in history and is set to close out with a rematch for the Undisputed WWE Championship.

The two wrestlers are set to face off in a rematch from WrestleMania in a Street Fight and veteran Vince Russo claims that Cody Rhodes should turn heel in the match. John Cena tried to get out of his match on this past episode of SmackDown but Cody Rhodes beat down Cena and forced him to sign the contract for the match which led to many fans believing that he will turn heel at SummerSlam.

Addressing their match on Sportskeeda Wrestling's Legion of RAW, Russo was in favor of The American Nightmare turing heel. He said that it would provide a clean slate for WWE to work on, and would help them work around their alleged last-minute approach to writing and producing shows.

"If I was writing this show, I would do the double turn at SummerSlam with Cody and Cena and then let's start with Cody as a heel and let's rebuild everything from there. That's what I would do. I would take it like, as a totally clean slate. Cody is the number one heel, and then just reset everybody and everything. Chris, I'm a broken record with all the shows and all the content they produce. They don't have time to do any of this. That's why, like you just said, everything is last minute. SummerSlam's next week, this is exactly why, bro because every time they turn around, they have a new show that they got to write and produce,'' Russo said. [27:38 onwards]

John Cena turned heel at Elimination Chamber and went on to win his record breaking 17th world title at WrestleMania 41. As he enters the second half of his retirement tour, it seems likely that he will turn face once again before he hangs up his boots with SummerSlam looking like the perfect spot to do so, with Cody Rhodes potentially taking his spot as the top heel.

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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 Arsh Das