Cody Rhodes Lets His Hair Up In Street Fighter (Exclusive)

Cody Rhodes is ready for his Hollywood close up. After several small roles on television and film, he’s stepping into his first major role as Guile in Street Fighter, a blisteringly fun, chaotic film adaptation of the classic Capcom video game that defined every millennial’s trip to the arcade or local 7-Eleven.

The film itself is a love letter to the generations of kids who are now watching this film with their kids, ready to take a trip back into a time of quarter-filled pockets, doing anything and everything you could to beat Zangief. Rhodes wanted to capture every part of that authenticity through the film, and he credits director Kitao Sakurai’s approach as similar to his own.

“This is a ’90s era [movie]”, Rhodes told me during our exclusive conversation for TheSportster. “The ’90s are now an era, and to bring that Street Fighter II in terms of this 2D animation. So how does that slide kick look? The flash kick, how does that look? The barrel kick, every aspect, the fighting stance, where are the thumbs? You really had these wonderful places you could go, resources you could look at to make sure that you were doing that piece right.”

Rhodes credits Capcom’s assistance in bringing as much of the game’s feel to the screen as possible, working together in an incredibly collaborative partnership. He says Sakurai’s attention to detail elevated its overall tone and its connection to its roots. Rhodes says that everything they did was to ensure they got Street Fighter right for them as much as for the fans, and they think they’ve succeeded.

“You’re going to talk to probably everybody who did this movie, and everybody who did this movie played the game. Everybody, and everyone who made the movie played the game. The editor is playing the game. The grips were playing. Everyone loved the game. Whether that was the Alpha series, whether that’s the modern generation, whether that was Turbo, World Warriors. It was a love letter, and Kitao just did everything in his power for the fighting game community to know, we got you. We got you with this.”

Cody Rhodes Says Guile Is The Most Serious Guy In The Room, For Better Or For Worse

Rhodes is known now as the more straight-laced, locker room leading QB1 on WWE Friday Night SmackDown, currently embroiled in a feud with Randy Orton on his way back to the WWE Undisputed Championship. Rejoining WWE in 2023, he’s become the undeniable face of the company, dethroning Roman Reigns for the championship at WrestleMania XL in 2024.

As Guile, Rhodes had the opportunity to let his hair down – or up, as we see on the screen – and the elements of absurd humor mixed with the intense obliviousness of his character is a much more effective approach to the role than Jean-Claude Van Damme’s leading man role in the 1994 film adaptation.

Rhodes says there’s a ton of laughs in the movie, and his approach to the role was that Guile was the most serious person in the room. His intensity with Dan Hibiki (Andrew Schulz) gives some of the biggest laughs in the film, and he says that the fact that Guile is an American hero who’s privy to the biggest secrets in the country allowed him to dial in on the frenetic, chaotic, and oft times confused, portrayal of the character.

“[It] was so fun because we’ve got the lines on paper and as somebody [who is] a big preparation guy; that’s how I was trained in the business. But I know I’m also gonna be standing there with a world-class stand-up comedian who’s got liners on liners in his pocket. Robin Williams level of improv. He’s ready to go, Andrew Schulz, and I thought, ‘Well, I’ve done promos in the ring with John Cena. I’ll stand.’ That created a really fun connection on set where we were able to treat it as a living, breathing organism, have fun, but also hitch ourselves to the wagon that was Andrew Koji, Noah Centineo, and Callina Liang, who are just the heart and soul of the movie as their characters, made it very easy for me to step in and support. To have 50 Cent there and everyone to take it so seriously. The guy was boxing. He was boxing training every day. You would’ve thought he was fighting someone for real at the end of the month. Just a grand experience.”

Cody Rhodes Says Finishing The Story Looks A Little Different As He Looks Into Future

Cody Rhodes’ grandest accomplishment, winning the WWE Undisputed Championship, was his biggest career goal. He left the company, paved his own way, and made himself the biggest attraction outside WWE, only to come back and win the greatest prize of them all, dethroning the Tribal Chief in one of the most legendary matches in WrestleMania history.

With Hollywood at the forefront of the American Nightmare’s view, Rhodes has the crossover appeal of many WWE Superstars who’ve come before him, like Street Fighter co-star Roman Reigns and The Rock. When asked about what’s changed in his definition of “finishing the story”, he tries, and fails, not to become emotional when reflecting on where he’s been, and where he’s going.

“My sister had said, ‘Be careful what you wish for, because at this rate, you’re gonna get it.’ When that happens, when the thing you want, the biggest dream you have in your life, which is to be the WWE Champion, happens, then it’s fun to go through the process of almost being a kid again and going, what else do I want? Yeah. What else do I want and what is the work that it’s gonna take to get there? You said QB1, thank you. I got to talk to the ultimate QB1 in Tom Brady not long ago. I asked Tom, I said, ‘What did you do once you’d won and then lost, but you’d already been to the big dance?’ His answer stuck with me about winning for everyone else.”

Rhodes tells me he’s at a crossroads in his career. He’s already accomplished so much in the squared circle, and while he’s still got more to do, especially with the news of his recently re-signed WWE contract, he wants the fans to know that he’s always going to be truthful about his intentions, short term and long term. Now that he’s had a taste of being in front of a different camera, something he calls an obsession, he’s ready to explore this part of his story.

“There might be some things we haven’t talked about. I want to grow as a storyteller and an artisan and always be able to bring that back home to a WWE that now allows me to do it with Nick Khan and Triple H allowing that element of it.”

Rhodes wants fans to ease their minds when it comes to where WWE is now in terms of the weekly television, and he wants everyone to know that even if he does step away, the company is in great hands, now and moving forward. He hopes fans can just enjoy the ride as much as they have with him, through finishing his story and beyond.

“I always laugh when I see the word, and you try not to see negative headlines, but I see the word decline. I just hope people know WWE’s continued on upward mobility. It’s with CM Punk, with Roman Reigns, with Rhea Ripley, with Liv Morgan, with Charlotte Flair, with us, with the talent, with Lash, with Trick, with Nia. It’s continued only to grow. I just hope fans can enjoy this moment because wrestling has never been more worldwide, and a prime example, you got three wrestlers in this movie. That would’ve never happened. So we’re eating good.”

Cody Rhodes stars in Street Fighter, also starring Noah Centineo, Andrew Koji, and Roman Reigns, and opens nationwide October 16th.