Cody Rhodes is gearing up for a huge WWE Championship match with John Cena, but it could be his last for a while.
Rhodes has taken several shots at Cena ahead of their second wrestling match of 2025 at SummerSlam in New Jersey.
Rhodes lost the WWE Championship to Cena at WrestleMania 41, which meant the icon became a record-setting 17-time World Champion.
Many fans expected Rhodes to win back the WWE Championship at SummerSlam, but his schedule might make that unlikely.
Cody Rhodes could be filming Street Fighter for ‘six weeks’ in August
Rhodes and Roman Reigns have been cast in Street Fighter, which will see them missing weeks of WWE action.
According to Deadline, the video game adaptation is set to film in August, which means Reigns’ SummerSlam match will likely be his last for a while.
That could be the same with Rhodes and Freddie Prinze Jr and Jeff Dye have speculated how long the WWE star could miss.
“There might be like rehearsals and all that stuff,” said Dye. “And the fight scene rehearsals sometimes take a couple weeks.”
That means Rhodes could miss over a month of action, which could scupper his plans of winning the WWE Championship.
“So, it could be up to, you know, five, six weeks with all that,” said Dye.
After months of WWE Champion Cena dropping in and out of the company, it’s unlikely they will want the same with Rhodes.
Could John Cena retain the WWE Championship at SummerSlam?
As unlikely as it seems, there’s every chance Cena could keep hold of the WWE Championship for a little longer due to Rhodes’ schedule.
Many expected Cena to turn back to babyface after defeat to Rhodes, but that could still happen with the WWE Championship.
Cena is expected to face the likes of AJ Styles and Gunther before his retirement in December, but he could just as easily do that with the company’s top title.
Cena has 15 dates left of his retirement tour, including dates confirmed at Clash in Paris and Crown Jewel: Australia.