John Cena beats Cody Rhodes; breaks Ric Flair's record at WWE WrestleMania 41

Modified Apr 21, 2025 03:07 GMT

John Cena and Cody Rhodes — John Cena turned heel at Elimination Chamber 2025 (Source: WWE on X)

John Cena just defeated Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 41. He also broke Ric Flair's record with this win.

Earlier this year, John Cena made it clear that he was after his 17th world title. At Elimination Chamber, he earned the right to face Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 41. However, he turned heel after the match and ambushed The American Nightmare. Over the next few weeks, Cody and Cena engaged in heated promo battles against each other.

Tonight, they finally locked horns with each other at WrestleMania Sunday. Cena, being the heel, worked Cody for most of the match. The American Nightmare was resilient as he kicked out of four Attitude Adjustments, including a super AA from the second rope.

During the closing stages of the bout, Travis Scott came out to the ring. Cena tried to hold Cody Rhodes up so that Travis could hit him, but The American Nightmare escaped and hit the Cross Rhodes on Cena.

However, Travis Scott pulled the referee out of the ring to stop the pinfall. Cody then invited Travis into the ring. The rapper tried to slap the Undisputed WWE Champion but was stopped as Cody hit a Cross Rhodes on him.

This distraction was enough for Cena to hit Cody with a low blow, followed by a shot with the Undisputed WWE Title, and he won the match. With this win, Cena has broken Ric Flair's record by becoming a 17-time world champion.

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It will be interesting to see whether Cody Rhodes will get his rematch against John Cena anytime soon.

About the author

Sunil is a pro wrestling journalist, covering AEW and WWE news stories at Sportskeeda. He holds an MBA degree in Marketing, and has nearly 7 years of experience. A wrestling aficionado since childhood, Sunil used to imitate his favorite wrestlers as a young kid, and started writing professionally about the sport via Sportskeeda’s revenue-sharing opportunity.

Sunil admires former world champions AJ Styles, Will Ospreay, and Kenny Omega for their ability to consistently deliver great matches as well as entertain crowds with their mic skills.

If ever given a chance to change a storyline, Sunil would have booked Roman Reigns to end The Undertaker’s WrestleMania streak instead of Brock Lesnar. According to him, The Tribal Chief needed the victory more than Brock Lesnar, as the latter was already an established performer when he defeated ‘Taker. He would’ve also made that as Taker’s final match.

Always focused on making his work accurate and reliable, Sunil thoroughly checks his facts before writing his articles. When not writing for pro wrestling, he spends his time watching cricket.

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Edited by Harish Raj S