How a Single Injury Turned Cody Rhodes into WWE's Biggest Babyface Since John Cena

If you want to pinpoint the night Cody Rhodes stopped being a maybe and became the guy in WWE, you go back to a brutal, queasy, impossible-to-forget Hell in a Cell in 2022. And now, a couple years and two Rumbles later, the most universally cheered star in the company might be flirting with something darker.

The night everything changed

June 2022, Hell in a Cell: Cody Rhodes vs. Seth Rollins. Rollins, living up to the troll side of his 'Visionary' persona, came out dressed like Dusty Rhodes — a wink at the polka-dots Vince McMahon once saddled Dusty with back in the day. Then Cody took off his robe and the whole building gasped. His right pec and shoulder were deep purple. He had torn the muscle in training before the match. He wrestled anyway.

Rollins did what Rollins does: went after the injury, over and over, with whatever was at hand. Cody ate it, all of it, and still beat him. That was the moment. The crowd flipped from respect to ride-or-die. Fans who had only seen him as a midcard guy during his first WWE run suddenly saw the top guy that AEW and the indies had been banging the drum about.

Fans still point to that match as the turning point. One viral post on October 29, 2025 basically called it the instant Cody became WWE’s next major babyface — the audible gasp when he revealed the torn pec, the look on his face, the way he just kept going.

Cody on that Chicago crowd

Two years after the Cell, after Fightful Wrestling shared a throwback to the match, Cody jumped into the conversation on June 5, 2024 with a message that says a lot about how he sees that night and that city.

'I didnt win this match, Chicago won it for me. I was so embarrassed and dejected, nothing in the eyes, and just enough left in the tank for one dance. Just the clips are wild enough for me.'

From that Cell to the summit

That win launched a straight line to the main event scene:

• 2023: Cody wins the Royal Rumble, then falls short against Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 39. It still supercharged his momentum for the year.
• 2024: Cody wins the Rumble again. Then things get messy — The Rock asks Cody to hand over his Undisputed title shot. Cody agrees, fans melt down, and the outrage forces a course correction. Rock backs off. Cody gets his match and finally finishes the story at WrestleMania XL, dethroning Roman Reigns and snapping a 1,316-day reign.

So… is he turning heel?

Cody is still one of the most cheered acts on TV, but the last couple weeks have felt like the first steps toward a turn — or at least a test of how far he can push before the cheers crack.

Here’s the recent timeline, because it’s a little tangled and very wrestling:

- Two weeks ago on SmackDown: Cody blamed Drew McIntyre for injuring Jacob Fatu and for costing the fans a main event. To make up for it (and teach Drew a lesson), Cody booked an on-the-spot Undisputed title match. It did not end clean — Cody drilled Drew with the championship belt and got himself DQ’d. The clip was everywhere within minutes.
- Right before that: McIntyre had accused Cody of essentially buying off a referee at 'Wrestlepalooza,' claiming the ref stopped him from Claymoring Cody into the announce desk.
- The week after the DQ: Cody apologized to the crowd for how he handled it.

Where this could be headed

There’s a growing belief that this is the first domino in a heel turn. If Triple H actually pulls the trigger, the why matters. Cody’s whole modern run has worked because the character motivations felt honest and personal. If they go heel, it needs to come from that same place — not because of outside pressure or a gimmick detour that undercuts what got him here.

What do you think?

Were you watching that Hell in a Cell when Cody wrestled with a torn pec? And how do you feel about him cracking Drew with the belt in a match he set up himself — a heat check, or a red flag? Drop your take in the comments.