Cody Rhodes to lose title in Triple Threat at WrestleMania 41, legend predicts (Exclusive)

Cody Rhodes has held the Undisputed WWE Championship since defeating Roman Reigns at WrestleMania XL. With two months to go until WrestleMania 41, legendary reporter Bill Apter gave his thoughts on The American Nightmare's possible opponent.

CM Punk, Damian Priest, Drew McIntyre, John Cena, Logan Paul, and Seth Rollins will compete in an Elimination Chamber match on March 1. The winner will challenge for Rhodes' title at WrestleMania 41 on April 19-20.

On Sportskeeda Wrestling's Smack Talk with Sid Pullar III, Apter predicted that Punk could win the match to set up a WrestleMania showdown with Rhodes. He also speculated that Cena could add himself to the Undisputed WWE Championship bout in the same way he automatically qualified for the Elimination Chamber. The story could then lead to the Hollywood star winning his 17th world title.

"CM Punk's gotta win because the fans want to see CM Punk and Cody Rhodes," Apter said. "We never got that in AEW, and the chants with CM Punk and that face-to-face weeks ago with CM Punk and Cody kind of cemented that match to me, but I don't think that's gonna be the match. If [John Cena] was able to put himself into the Elimination Chamber without a qualifying match, CM Punk wins the Elimination Chamber, and what stops John Cena from saying, 'Now it's a three-way. I'm putting myself in there,' and WWE does nothing about it." [10:22 – 11:13]

Watch the video above to hear Bill Apter explain why he would like Logan Paul to win the Elimination Chamber match.

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What if John Cena dethrones Cody Rhodes?

As part of his 2025 retirement tour, John Cena has made it his mission to win a record-breaking 17th world title. He currently holds the record of 16 with two-time WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair.

Bill Apter thinks Cena could win the gold at WrestleMania 41 before losing to Cody Rhodes at SummerSlam on August 2-3:

"Cody doesn't have to get pinned. I think CM Punk would gladly lay down for John Cena in that [WrestleMania] match, and down the road, the next pay-per-view, maybe SummerSlam, Cody against John Cena to get the belt back." [11:13 – 11:33]

Cena has not won a world title since defeating AJ Styles for the WWE Championship at the 2017 Royal Rumble. His reign only lasted 14 days before Bray Wyatt captured the title at Elimination Chamber 2017.

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