9-time champion to turn heel and emerge as Cody Rhodes' next challenger? Exploring the chances

Cody Rhodes has been battling The Bloodline since forever. While Rhodes had to first defeat Roman Reigns to win the Undisputed WWE Championship, he later found himself in a rivalry against Solo Sikoa for the gold. At SummerSlam, Rhodes successfully retained his title against Sikoa.

The Cleveland event also saw the return of Roman Reigns, who attacked Sikoa. This attack by The Tribal Chief indicates Rhodes will probably not feud with The Bloodline any further. If that's the case, who will challenge Rhodes? While there are many stars, Kevin Owens may be the most credible challenger if he turns heel.

In the past, the WWE Universe has witnessed Owens turn his back on his friends on multiple occasions. Hence, it won't be surprising to see The Prizefighter do the same to Rhodes. After all, it's been six years since KO has held a singles title in the Stamford-based promotion.

Owens may look to turn heel and go after The American Nightmare on SmackDown to possibly become a world champion again in WWE. He has held the Universal, United States, Tag Team, NXT, and Intercontinental titles in the global juggernaut.

If KO embraces his dark side, he may instantly become a massive heel on SmackDown, given the support Cody Rhodes has. It will also allow WWE to capture fans' attention again following SummerSlam.

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Ex-WWE host believes Roman Reigns vs. Cody Rhodes III can happen

At WrestleMania 39, Roman Reigns defended the Undisputed WWE Championship against Cody Rhodes, after which Rhodes had to wait a year before he could beat Reigns at WrestleMania 40. This means both superstars have won one match each and would need to compete in a rubber bout to decide their feud's winner.

While the possibility of the match seems bleak, Reigns and Rhodes did have a staredown when the former made his return at SummerSlam. As per ex-WWE host Matt Camp, this rubber match between the two superstars could happen. During an episode of The Wrestling Matt, Camp said:

"I don't know how long they wanna wait on Cody and Roman. Let me throw this out here, you know they wanna make a splash for Netflix, you know it, as they should. (...) That first episode on Netflix is gonna be loaded up. Do we see Cody [vs.] Roman on that? Do we see Cody [vs.] [The] Rock on that? I think it's absolutely in play. Absolutely in play. I think we're getting a massive match." [From 37:04 to 37:57]

If Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes do end up facing each other for the third time, it will generate a lot of buzz. It will also be interesting to see who WWE books to reign supreme.