Cody Rhodes has spent years establishing a WWE in-ring identity built around athletic movement, emotional intensity and an ability to shift his approach depending on the opponent across the ring. But while preparing to bring Guile to life in the upcoming Street Fighter movie, Rhodes sees a major difference between his own style and that of the video game icon.
Rhodes is set to portray Guile in the new Street Fighter film, which is scheduled to arrive in theaters on October 16. During promotional comments about the project, the WWE star was asked to compare Guile’s fighting style with the way he performs in the ring. His answer drew on a defining feature of Guile’s gameplay while also laying out why the character’s combat approach does not perfectly match the style fans have come to know from Rhodes.
“Guile is, he’s a charge character,” Rhodes said. “Maybe that’s too deep of a cut for the game itself, but when you played the game back in the day, you had to hold the button down for a good ol three seconds before you pop that flash kick off.”
For players familiar with the long-running fighting game series, the comparison is an apt one. Guile is traditionally associated with a patient, controlled style, in which defensive positioning and carefully timed attacks create opportunities for his signature offense. That approach is particularly associated with the Flash Kick, one of the character’s most recognizable moves.
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Rhodes, however, said he does not view himself as a “charge character” when he steps between the ropes for WWE competition.
“I am not a charge character in real life,” Rhodes said. “Cody Rhodes is a lot more limber moving around. Guile is smash mouth, you know what I mean? This is smash mouth ball. I was more in your face. Slide kick, things of that nature.”
Rhodes Sees Guile as a Different Kind of Fighter
The distinction Rhodes made is notable because it separates the demands of portraying a famous fighting game character from the instincts he has developed in professional wrestling. In the ring, Rhodes has often leaned on quick changes in pace, evasive movement and bursts of offense. His major WWE matches have regularly placed an emphasis on urgency and momentum, with Rhodes working to keep opponents reacting to him rather than simply waiting for a single opening.
Guile, by contrast, is a fighter whose reputation is rooted in structure and force. Rhodes’ use of “smash mouth” describes a character who can impose himself physically and who is associated with a more deliberate brand of confrontation. While Rhodes mentioned the slide kick as an example of being more directly in an opponent’s face, he ultimately characterized Guile as the heavier, more traditionally tough competitor in the comparison.
That does not mean the two are completely disconnected. Rhodes’ ability to communicate through physical performance is central to his work in WWE, and it is also an important part of taking on a character with a history as recognizable as Guile’s. The wrestler has a clear understanding that the role comes with expectations from viewers who know the character’s moves, personality and place within the broader Street Fighter universe.
His comments also showed enthusiasm for what Guile represents. Rhodes described the character in patriotic terms, tying the role to a larger-than-life image that has been part of Guile’s identity for generations.
“Guile is All American,” Rhodes said. “I was so excited. You can feel it. Just watching, you can taste the freedom almost coming off the screen.”
A Major Screen Role for the WWE Star
The role gives Rhodes an opportunity to take one of gaming’s best-known characters into a major film adaptation. Guile has long stood out in the franchise through his military-inspired presentation, distinctive look and signature attacks. For Rhodes, the part also brings together a public persona that has been strongly connected with American imagery and a character who carries his own unmistakable patriotic presentation.
Rhodes has never been a performer who treats presentation as an afterthought. From his entrance to the way he frames major matches, he has consistently understood the value of a clear character identity. That experience could be especially useful when portraying Guile, a figure who must immediately register with longtime fans while also functioning for moviegoers who may not have years of familiarity with the games.
At the same time, Rhodes’ remarks make it clear that he is not simply trying to put his own WWE persona onto the role. By distinguishing the mobile, more flexible Cody Rhodes from the grounded and forceful Guile, he is identifying a specific performance challenge. The goal is not necessarily to make Guile wrestle like Cody Rhodes. It is to recognize what makes Guile feel like Guile.
That difference is also part of what makes casting professional wrestlers in action-oriented projects compelling. Wrestlers arrive with experience in timing, physical storytelling and performing for an audience, but the best roles still require them to adapt. Rhodes’ description of Guile as a charge character suggests he has considered not only the surface-level look of the fighter, but also the rhythm behind the character’s combat style.
Balancing WWE, Film Work and Family
Elsewhere in his comments while promoting Street Fighter, Rhodes revealed that his second daughter was born while he was on the film’s set. The detail provides a personal marker for what is already a significant professional period in his career.
Rhodes has maintained a demanding public schedule as one of WWE’s most prominent stars, while the film represents a high-profile acting commitment beyond the wrestling world. The birth of his second daughter during the production added another major life event to that stretch of time.
For a wrestler whose career has often been defined by openly personal storytelling, the overlap of family life, WWE responsibilities and a major movie role is particularly fitting. Rhodes has repeatedly presented his ambitions in professional terms while making clear that his family remains a central part of his perspective. His involvement in Street Fighter now becomes another chapter in that broader story, one that extends beyond the ring without leaving his wrestling identity behind.
Why the Comparison Matters to WWE Fans
Rhodes’ comparison between himself and Guile may begin as a lighthearted question about fighting styles, but it highlights the different languages of wrestling and video game combat. WWE matches are built around live crowd response, storytelling and the ability to evolve moment to moment. A fighting game character, meanwhile, is shaped by a defined set of mechanics and a combat identity players recognize immediately.
Rhodes’ answer connected those worlds in a way that longtime fans of both can understand. He knows the patience and setup associated with Guile’s charge-based offense. He also knows that his own work relies on a different kind of physical expression, one he described as more limber and more confrontational.
The contrast may help audiences understand the mindset Rhodes is bringing to the film. Rather than viewing the role as an extension of his WWE character, he appears to be approaching Guile as a separate performer with his own pace, presence and physical vocabulary. That is an important distinction for a character whose legacy is tied to a specific style of combat.
With Street Fighter set for its October 16 theatrical release, Rhodes’ casting will remain one of the project’s biggest points of interest for wrestling fans. His move from WWE’s biggest stages to a role as Guile gives him a new platform, but his comments suggest he remains conscious of the gap between the fighter he plays and the competitor he is inside a WWE ring.
In Rhodes’ view, Cody Rhodes can move, press forward and adapt. Guile waits, sets his position and strikes with the kind of hard-nosed impact Rhodes describes as “smash mouth.” The challenge for the WWE star will be making that difference visible on screen while delivering a version of Guile that feels worthy of one of fighting games’ most enduring characters.
Darryl Polo
Darryl Polo is a passionate wrestling fan covering WWE, AEW, TNA and beyond. He loves great rivalries, breakout stars and the moments that keep fans talking long after the bell. How we work.