The Rock makes massive claim about John Cena after winning his 17th WWE World Championship

John Cena captured his 17th World Title last Sunday to break the record for most world title reigns recognized by WWE. The Rock recently addressed The Franchise Player's victory, making a massive claim about his legacy.

The 47-year-old legend is set to hang up his boots by the end of this year. Last month, he won the 2025 Men's Elimination Chamber match to earn a shot at the Undisputed WWE Championship at WrestleMania. Last Sunday, the recently turned heel superstar defeated The American Nightmare to capture the title and become a 17-time World Champion.

In a recent interview on The Pat McAfee Show, The Rock stated that Cena has legitimized himself as the GOAT by winning his 17th World Title. The Final Boss pointed out that he would add The Franchise Player to his Mount Rushmore, predicting that the current Undisputed WWE Champion would have an insane run as a heel:

"Let's start with John becoming the 17th time Heavyweight Champion and legitmizing himself as being without question the GOAT, period. He's on Mount Rushmore. Now, gotta kick a guy off to put him on. I think now Dusty goes in the back. He was always on my Mount Rushmore. He goes on the back there with me. I'll be raising my eyebrows back there in the back of Mount Rushmore. You know, I think that, you know, the way John, at the end of the night, John raising that title, that was the bottom line. That as the northstar. And I loved it. And I love that moment. I think he's gonna go on to have this insane run as a heel," he said. [From 38:25 to 39:08]

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The Rock explained why he missed WWE WrestleMania

During his chat with Pat McAfee, The Rock discussed his absence from WrestleMania 41 despite his involvement in Cody Rhodes and John Cena's storyline at Elimination Chamber.

The Final Boss explained that he did not want to steal the spotlight from The American Nightmare and The Franchise Player:

"So, when were moving forward with John and this idea of him getting crowned at WrestleMania and then being a heel champion, I knew then the best thing for The Final Boss, we've established this idea of Cody's soul. [We] can always come back to it. I did feel, and I made the call, I don't wanna be involved in that. Step back. Let The Final Boss step back into the shadows. Let all the spotlight go to John. Let it go to Cody. Let's not make it about Cody's soul, eventually, or John's soul. No, let's let them do what they do," he said.

The Rock also disclosed that he was surprised by Travis Scott's interference in the Undisputed WWE Championship match, although he loved it.

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