Cody Rhodes has been gearing up to play the popular Street Fighter character “Guile” in the highly anticipated movie reboot, and recently explained why being a proficient pro wrestler has helped to inform the U.S. Air Force pilot’s presentation on the big screen.
In a recent Q&A to promote the upcoming movie, Cody Rhodes says that his love of Street Fighter II began when he got the top-selling game for his Nintendo console as a kid. “I loved me some Street Fighter II,” he reflected. “And I was shockingly better at it as a child than I am as a full-grown adult male.”
Still, as an adult, Rhodes has certainly been no slouch. He’s held the WWE Championship multiple times and as such, is a playable character in many of the pro wrestling promotion’s own video game offerings. But a chance to step into the Street Fighter franchise as Guile is one of his proudest moments yet. The grappler shared some of the inspirations behind bringing the U.S. Air Force pilot into the upcoming film.
“So much of what we’ve done with Guile is very funny,” he commented. “I have a buddy who’s in the Air Force, and I asked him about a few things, you know, whether it be posture, or is there a phrase that they like to hear? But the part that I connected the most, is the dog tags.” Rhodes also shared how coming from the larger-than-life WWE Universe helped with Guile’s presentation.
How WWE Training Prepared Cody Rhodes to Play Guile in ‘Street Fighter’
“Being a wrestler and coming to do Street Fighter informs the character, but probably in different ways than people think,” said The American Nightmare. “I can get on the wire, and I can actually pull this Flash Kick off, and I can land. You can throw a punch … So, there were those components that being a wrestler helped with: the fights and this wonderful stunt team coming together. But also, there’s a presence about Guile that reminds me a lot of all the great wrestlers where, when they walk in a room, you want heads turning.”
While balancing his busy schedule in WWE with making a big-budget movie required a serious investment for Rhodes, the wrestling icon couldn’t have been keener to pull it off. “I jumped right from my day job as a pro wrestler into my new day job being guile,” he said. “In my mind, it’s important that what you do reflects what we grew up playing.”
Fortunately, Rhodes had a ball with the rest of the cast including starts such as Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson and Andrew Schulz. “I don’t think I’ve ever felt such an instant synergy with a group of people who I barely know,” said Rhodes. “And it has so much to do with the fact that they’re leaders in their own industry, whether that be hip-hop, whether that be comedy, whether that be pro wrestling, or whether that be tremendous actors in their own right. And I think production has realized that maybe lightning in a bottle has been captured here.”
Street Fighter is in theaters from Oct. 16, 2026.
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