The upcoming Street Fighter reboot features two top WWE Superstars, Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns, in key roles, but fans probably shouldn't expect to see Guile and Akuma share the screen very much (if at all).
During an interview with Chris Van Vliet, Rhodes - who is the current WWE Undisputed Champion - was asked if he filmed any scenes with Reigns, real name Leati Joseph Anoaʻi, and revealed that the crew actually did their best to keep them apart.
“We had one day on set, and the way the set was, and he could probably reiterate this,” Rhodes said. “I think they thought we were going to fight or have issues for real because they were very cognisant on the radios of us [and saying], 'Stepping out with Guile, Akuma will be coming on.’ They were very cognisant that we would not cross paths. And we did, because I had to tell him the direction of one of the trailers, and that was our only moment, and it was very awkward.”
Rhodes and Reigns had a long-running rivalry in WWE, which culminated with The American Nightmare ending The Tribal Chief's 1,316-day reign as champion at WrestleMania 40. Cody and Roman likely get on just fine, of course, but many pro-wrestlers like to retain an element of Kayfabe (a wrestling term for maintaining the illusion, basically) at all times.
“That's a crazy relationship,” Rhodes continued. “I have nothing but admiration for what he's done and accomplished, but I don't know what it is. I don't even like talking about it because I don't know what it is. It's just a very strange relationship. I can tell you from what I saw of his fight, if he has a fight, I can tell you what I saw was really special. And I think fans of Street Fighter, Kitao Sakurai (the film’s director) has put something really special together.”
Rhodes went on to praise director Kitao Sakura and reassure fans of the classic Street Fighter 2 video game that the movie will do justice to the characters.
“Kitao was all about trying things. They had a full cabinet on set with every Street Fighter on it, which was custom-made, it's all different, so we had every one on one cabinet. The director of the game came down, the modern shepherd of the franchise. I think people who grew up loving the game, which I grew up loving the game, and I loved the original movie, not ironically, I actually loved it, I think they're going to be very pleased with the fan service the movie does and how it honors the characters.”
“Set in 1993, estranged Street Fighters Ryu (Andrew Koji) and Ken Masters (Noah Centineo) are thrown back into combat when the mysterious Chun-Li (Callina Liang) recruits them for the next World Warrior Tournament: a brutal clash of fists, fate, and fury. But behind this battle royale lies a deadly conspiracy that forces them to face off against each other and the demons of their past. And if they don’t, it’s GAME OVER!”
The movie stars Noah Centineo as Ken Masters, Andrew Koji as Ryu, Callina Liang as Chun-Li, Cody Rhodes as Guile, Orville Peck as Vega, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson as Balrog, Jason Momoa as Blanka, Vidyut Jammwal as Dhalsim, Olivier Richters as Zangief, Hirooki Goto as E. Honda, David Dastmalchian as M. Bison, Joe “Roman Reigns” Anoa’i as Akuma, Andrew Schulz as Dan Hibiki, Eric André as Don Sauvage, Mel Jarnson as Cammy, Rayna Vallandingham as Juli, and Alexander Volkanovski as Joe.