Add as a preferred source on Google Cody Rhodes challenges CM Punk for the Undisputed WWE Championship in the main event of SummerSlam Night 1 on Saturday, August 1 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, and it’s the most obvious spot on the calendar for Cody to finally turn heel.
Ibou of Self Made Pro reported that any decision to turn Rhodes is completely up to Rhodes. That same report noted Punk was originally penciled in as the heel in this program, but that plan is dead — he’s too over to work anything but babyface right now.
SummerSlam has a long history of turns that shifted the direction of the whole company. Here are three of them.
3. Triple H turns on Daniel Bryan (2013)
Bryan had just beaten John Cena clean for the WWE Title with Triple H as special guest referee. Before Bryan could get his celebration in, Hunter dropped him with a Pedigree and Randy Orton ran down to cash in Money in the Bank and take the belt.
The angle created The Authority and made Bryan the guy fighting the corporate machine. It was a simple turn executed in under a minute, and it carried WWE TV all the way to WrestleMania XXX.
2. Becky Lynch turns on Charlotte Flair (2018)
Charlotte won the SmackDown Women’s Title in a triple threat with Carmella and Becky Lynch, and Becky laid out her best friend after the match.
It was booked as a heel turn. The crowd wouldn’t have it — Lynch got cheered out of the building, WWE flipped the direction within weeks, and The Man became the hottest act in the company. Proof that a hot enough reaction can override whatever’s on the sheet.
1. Roman Reigns returns (2020)
Reigns came back after the main event — The Fiend beating Braun Strowman for the Universal Title — and speared both men. He aligned with Paul Heyman on the following SmackDown, won the title off the two of them at Payback a week later, and settled into the Tribal Chief.
The turn remade Reigns and gave WWE its top storyline for the next four years.
Cody in 2026
The cleanest route is Rhodes dropping the match and jumping Punk after the bell. He could also take the title on a run-in or a low blow, though a turn built around a title win is a tougher sell in the moment.
Cody has worked essentially the same babyface since he came back in 2022. A turn gives him somewhere new to go and makes Saturday the thing everyone’s still arguing about on Monday.