Cody Rhodes risked his WWE Title reign ahead of his return

Cody Rhodes successfully defended the Undisputed WWE Championship against Drew McIntyre at Wrestlepalooza 2025 Premium Live Event held last month. Before returning to the Stamford-based promotion for his first title defense, The American Nightmare was written off with an attack so he could film for his upcoming Hollywood movie, Street Fighter.

The 40-year-old champion recently revealed a crucial update to his role in Street Fighter, which risked his WWE Title reign ahead of his return. Speaking on The Pat McAfee Show, Rhodes admitted that he was "adamant" about performing the stunts required for his role as Guile in the film.

“I was adamant that anything that’s a stunt, I’m gonna do it. If that requires me being on these wires, I wanna do it,” he said. (H\T: sescoops.com)

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Cody Rhodes to compete in a major WWE match next

The American Nightmare's next high-stakes contest was booked the same night he retained the Undisputed WWE Championship, defeating Drew McIntyre in a singles match at ESPN's WrestlePalooza Premium Live Event.

Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins had an intense face-off at the post-Wrestlepalooza show, setting up a traditional champion vs. champion bout for the Crown Jewel: Perth.

The World Heavyweight Champion and Undisputed Champion will be locking horns to determine the best pound-for-pound champion and will be awarded with the Crown Jewel title.

The two-time Undisputed WWE Champion was the inaugural Crown Jewel Champion, as he captured the title last year at Crown Jewel 2025, defeating Gunther in an extremely competitive battle.

With the Perth premium live event approaching, it will be interesting to see what plans the Triple H-led creative team has in store for The American Nightmare. It also remains to be seen whether Rhodes will create history at the PLE by capturing the Crown Jewel Championship for the second time in a row, this time by defeating Seth Rollins.