Cody Rhodes Namechecks Van Damme While Sharing The Street Fighter Moment He Really Wanted To Bring To The Big Screen

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The 1994 film Street Fighter often gets criticized alongside other bad video game movies, but it has a dedicated fanbase who appreciate its unique qualities, especially Jean-Claude Van Damme’s energetic portrayal of Guile. Now, with a new Street Fighter movie in the works, the actor playing Guile – WWE champion Cody Rhodes – wants to match or even surpass Van Damme’s iconic performance, and he had a specific moment from the game he was excited to recreate.

The upcoming action movie Street Fighter, slated for release in 2026, is already generating a lot of excitement, thanks to its impressive cast. Among them, Rhodes stands out as someone already experienced in performing fight choreography. He also took on many of his own stunts during filming. In an interview with TheRingReport, Rhodes discussed a particular stunt he was eager to perform: Guile’s iconic move. According to Rhodes:

Let me tell you, I’d never done any wirework before, and I figured people would assume, ‘Oh, this guy’s got some action experience!’ Honestly, I wasn’t so sure. But when I heard they were potentially including Guile’s iconic flash kick in the movie, I knew I had to try for it. I’d been a huge fan of Jean-Claude Van Damme’s version from the original Street Fighter film, and the whole experience of attempting it was just… really something else. Truly unique.

The wrestler’s remarks highlight how people often assume professional wrestlers are experts in things like rigging and stunt work. While that wasn’t really true for Rhodes, he was willing to give it a shot – even if it meant learning to use the equipment with his feet!

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Guile’s flash kick is definitely one of the most iconic moves in fighting games – I’d easily rank it in the top ten, and possibly even the top five. While Ryu’s Hadouken is probably more widely copied, I think a lot of fans would be disappointed if the Guile character, played by Rhodes, didn’t perform it at least once.

Despite Jean-Claude Van Damme being a hugely popular action star, I believe the fight choreography with Michael Rhodes in Street Fighter will be far more visually striking than Van Damme’s scenes with the already sick Raul Julia.

Even though the movie isn’t fully finished, director Kitao Sakurai regularly showed the cast rough cuts of the scenes, especially considering all the visual effects. Cody Rhodes said seeing these early edits was incredibly motivating – it gave him a huge burst of energy and made him feel like he could overcome any challenge.

We all came from different backgrounds – myself, Roman Reigns, and others – and were leaders in what we do. But Roman gathered our group and showed us a preview of footage they’d already edited. It honestly felt like being back on a Little League team, with him as the coach. Kitao Sakurai, the director, really took on that coaching role for us.

The cast of Street Fighter is huge, featuring not only Cody Rhodes but also stars like Noah Centineo, Jason Momoa, Roman Reigns, 50 Cent, Andrew Koji, David Dastmalchian, Andrew Schulz, and Callina Long. It also includes the comedic duo Eric André and Kyle Mooney, and I’d love to see them in a fight scene!

The action-packed movie Street Fighter is scheduled to be released in theaters on October 16, 2026, just in time for Halloween.

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2025-11-25 20:45