Cody Rhodes Invokes Absent WWE Star to Get Under Sami Zayn’s Skin on Taped SmackDown from London

The ongoing rivalry between Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes and Sami Zayn took another sharp turn on the taped June 26 edition of SmackDown, recorded at London’s O2 Arena, as Rhodes found a new way to dig at his opponent — dropping the name of an absent WWE star during their latest face-to-face segment.

Rhodes and Zayn have been exchanging increasingly personal jabs in recent weeks, but this particular moment stood out. Rather than simply trading barbs directly, Rhodes chose to weaponize a name from outside their immediate feud, using an absent colleague as a pressure point to get inside Zayn’s head. It’s a calculated move that speaks to where this rivalry has gone — past pure athletic competition and into something more psychologically charged.

The choice of venue adds some extra weight to the moment. London’s O2 Arena crowds tend to be vocal and invested, and a heated promo exchange between two of WWE’s best talkers in front of that kind of audience only amplifies the drama. Both Rhodes and Zayn are among the company’s most capable microphone workers, and their verbal confrontations have consistently been a highlight of SmackDown’s recent run.

With the taped episode set to air in the coming days, the segment is poised to add another layer to what has become one of the more compelling programs on the SmackDown brand. How Zayn responds — and whether that absent star’s name becomes a bigger part of the story going forward — will be worth watching closely.