Cody Rhodes has the weight of the world on his shoulders. Everyone is gunning for him and his Undisputed WWE Championship.

The American Nightmare has been a commendable champion since winning the title at WrestleMania XL. He has too much on his plate right now, as he’s been feuding with half of the SmackDown roster.

Despite being heavily featured, the 39-year-old Superstar has gone nearly a month without defending his Undisputed WWE Championship on TV. He last successfully defended his title against Solo Sikoa on the September 13 edition of SmackDown.

As of today, Rhodes has unknowingly broken the 30-day title defense rule. Although the management hasn’t consistently enforced this rule in a very long time, it was used to strip Rhea Ripley of her WWE Women’s Championship earlier this year.

At the Crown Jewel Premium Live Event on November 2, Cody Rhodes will face Gunther for the inaugural Crown Jewel Championship. Neither man’s title will be on the line in this champion vs. champion brand warfare.

This could force Nick Aldis to strip The American Nightmare of his Undisputed WWE title on Triple H’s order. What would be more interesting is if Kevin Owens was the one to remind SmackDown’s General Manager about Cody Rhodes’s breach of this rule.

It could be argued that Roman Reigns was given significant leeway during his reign. However, Cody Rhodes has been a full-time champion and should be defending his title at least once a month.

As controversial as it seems, the decision would make the impending Owens vs. Rhodes match less predictable, especially with the vacated Undisputed WWE Championship on the line.

Is Cody Rhodes on the brink of a heel turn in WWE?

Speaking on the Wrestling Time Machine podcast, Hall of Fame journalist and Sportskeeda’s own Bill Apter discussed fans choosing Roman Reigns over Cody Rhodes as the top babyface.

The veteran thinks the creative team could capitalize on this opportunity to turn Rhodes into a heel to set up a trilogy with Reigns down the road:

“It’s a perfect entrée for The American Nightmare to become an American nightmare down the road where the fans are cheering more for Roman than him. After a while, maybe that’s enough and he attacks Roman.”

As exciting as this idea seems on paper, it is unlikely that The American Nightmare will embrace the dark side anytime soon. He is expected to be babyface heading into WrestleMania 41 next year.