‘They Thought We Were Going to Fight’ — WWE Star Cody Rhodes Reveals He Was Kept Apart From Roman Reigns on the Set of the Street Fighter Movie

This perceived animosity between the two likely stems from an extended storyline in the WWE that culminated at Wrestlemania 40 in 2024. During the main event, Cody Rhodes finally became the Undisputed WWE Champion by defeating Roman Reigns with the help of John Cena, Seth Rollins, and The Undertaker in a historic match that ended Reigns’ long-unbeaten run.

“That’s a crazy relationship,” Rhodes said. “I have nothing but admiration for what he’s done and accomplished, but I don’t know what it is. I don’t even like talking about it because I don’t know what it is. It’s just a very strange relationship. I can tell you from what I saw of his fight, if he has a fight, I can tell you what I saw was really special. And I think fans of Street Fighter, Kitao Sakurai (the film’s director) has put something really special together.”

“Kitao was all about trying things,” Rhodes continued. “They had a full cabinet on set with every Street Fighter on it, which was custom-made, it’s all different, so we had every one on one cabinet. The director of the game came down, the modern shepherd of the franchise. I think people who grew up loving the game, which I grew up loving the game, and I loved the original movie, not ironically, I actually loved it, I think they’re going to be very pleased with the fan service the movie does and how it honors the characters.”

Of course, Rhodes and Reigns are far from the first wrestlers to make the transition to Hollywood acting. They follow a long line that has come before them, with Dave Bautista, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and John Cena being most notable among them. It’s something Rhodes is well aware of; he cited Cena in particular for setting the standard for what movie sets expect from WWE stars.

“If you look at what Batista (Bautista) did with Guardians, and you look at obviously what The Final Boss (Johnson) has done. I came on that set, and I think probably any other wrestler has to come on set ready to go and come correct now because John [Cena] has set a bar where he’s early for everything, he’s last to leave. His wit and his improv are phenomenal. He remembers everyone who interviews him. All the things John would teach us growing up in the business, you have to apply them now because they’ve had him. So, you can’t be slacking off when you’re the wrestler on set.”

And, of course, we can’t talk about Guile without mentioning that haircut of his, which, Rhodes also revealed, is a wig made from yak hair. So now you know that, just in case you were wondering.

Street Fighter isn’t the only fighting video game movie coming out in 2026, with Mortal Kombat 2 also set to hit the big screen. Both films have been in the news recently, as stars of each have been exchanging barbs online, with MK2’s Lewis Tan claiming “numbers don’t lie” in response to SF’s Andrew Schultz. It comes after both movies were teased at the 2025 Game Awards as Mortal Kombat’s producer claimed “I don’t climb over others to get ahead” after the Street Fighter cast threw jabs MK’s way.

Simon Cardy is a Senior Editor at IGN who can mainly be found skulking around open world games, indulging in Korean cinema, or despairing at the state of Tottenham Hotspur and the New York Jets. Follow him on Bluesky at @cardy.bsky.social.