Ahead of Cody Rhodes‘ match against John Cena at WWE SummerSlam, many fans believed that Rhodes would turn heel at the event, something the superstar said was never even pitched to him.
Speaking during a recent appearance on the SI Media Podcast (via Fightful), Rhodes was asked about the moment. He said that ultimately, he is a team player, but a lot goes into a decision like Cody potentially turning heel.
“I play for the team. If the coach tells me, ‘This is what we’re doing,’ I might have a question or two about it,” said Rhodes. “I can weigh an objection or a comment, but that’s the whole quarterback element. I’m going to run the play. When discussions like that….you have the writer’s room, Ed Kosky is there, Triple H, the Final Boss [The Rock] is always present in a way, and Nick Khan. That would be a big discussion that we would all have.
“Heading into any event, not just SummerSlam, any event, Triple H, as a leader, likes to lay out every single potential road we could go down. You might find something on the road, maybe you don’t go down it, but you think of when you do. He’s very good about polling the room. ‘If we did that, what would that look like? Where would it go? Is it just for shock?’”
Rhodes would have some ideas on how to go heel
Rhodes went on to note that, despite rumors, it doesn’t sound like the idea of him turning heel ever got far. He said that if those discussions happened, they “didn’t go far,” and never got to him. Should it happen, though, he would have some ideas on how it would be handled.
“I just did an interview with Unreal, and I kept hearing the phrase ‘double turn.’ Double turn is a little more complicated than people think. It shouldn’t be,” Rhodes said. “I have a bounty out if one person can actually tell me what that means. They’re going to say the thing that sounds the most simple, and that’s not what a double turn is. I’m not going to get into it. Fans are always right. I’ve learned my lesson. Whenever you try to mansplain something, you end up just coming off like a dick. The fans are very much in control of what we do. If (me turning) was discussed, it didn’t go far. I don’t think it got to me, by any means, because I would have some ideas on how I would execute it and what would happen.
“If you’re Triple H and looking at three years of record business and you’re looking at your team. Rhea Ripley, CM Punk, Seth Rollins, Bron Breakker, Jacob Fatu, if you move a piece in a big way, does it affect the rest of the team? Do we keep record business? That’s a discussion where, with this company and 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.”
