When the dust settles from the first two-night WWE SummerSlam, more than half of our team believes Cody Rhodes will once again hold the Undisputed WWE Championship. It’s hard to envision Rhodes losing to Cena at WWE WrestleMania 41 and following it up with another loss at the company’s next major show. For that reason alone, Rhodes seems like the safe pick here.

I’d also argue that Rhodes makes the most sense from creative and business perspectives. Since he finally defeated Roman Reigns last year, Rhodes has been positioned as the next “top guy” in WWE, but there needs to be some follow-through if they expect him to maintain that position. Cena getting the upper hand against Rhodes once is believable. A second time, though, and it starts to strain some of his credibility.

Along with that, it would be a questionable decision to end Cena’s wrestling career with him as a villain. It was a fun experiment that resulted in some great moments, even if the full ride was uneven. Now’s the time to start milking the fact that Cena only has a few months left, and it makes more sense to do that with the crowd fully behind him.

In fact, I’m not sure if any of my Wrestling Inc. compatriots would agree with me, but I’ll go as far as to suggest that Sunday’s show should feature some form of a double-turn, with Rhodes finally allying himself with the Rock while Cena is on the receiving end of a betrayal. The fact that it’s a Street Fight means the title can change hands, even through interference. Additionally, the move would allow WWE to tie up some narrative loose ends with the Rock’s behind-the-scenes machinations, and there’s even exciting potential for new character development in Rhodes.

The son of a son of a plumber is set to appear in “The Naked Gun,” which debuts in theaters this weekend, and it could allow a heel version of Rhodes to tease following in the footsteps of the Rock and Cena as he transitions to Hollywood. Is this something that WWE will actually do? Probably not, but it would be one way to right the ship with the Rock’s WWE return, set up the end of Cena’s career, and provide some new storytelling avenues for Rhodes all in one move.

Written by Nick Miller