The Story So Far: John Cena Vs. Cody Rhodes At WWE SummerSlam 2025

The main event of this historic, first-ever two-night SummerSlam will see "The Never Seen 17" Undisputed WWE Champion John Cena take on "The American Nightmare" Cody Rhodes in a WrestleMania 41 rematch. The pair's rivalry has also been historic, with Cena finally turning heel for the first time in his career before challenging Rhodes on "The Grandest Stage of Them All" back in April, in what was Cena's final WrestleMania with WWE.

The pair have been through a lot since Cena's turn at Elimination Chamber back in March, which seemingly stemmed from Rhodes refusing to give his "soul" to "The Final Boss" Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. It was Cena who seemingly aligned himself with The Rock, with rapper Travis Scott in tow, after pinning CM Punk to win the Chamber match. Cena was desperate to get to his final WrestleMania to challenge for his record-breaking 17th world championship, but aligning himself with his "Once in a Lifetime" rival never took off in storyline and his fellow Hollywood star proved to be no help in Cena's quest for gold.

Despite the confusing booking with the absence of The Rock, the Cena and Rhodes feud continued with the "Leader of the Cenation" as the bad guy. Ahead of WrestleMania, Cena told the crowd that he turned his back on them because they had already turned on him over the years, chanting things like "You can't wrestle!" and "Cena sucks!" 

He let everyone know that he wasn't just planning to beat Rhodes at WrestleMania, his main goal was to retire with the Undisputed WWE Championship and take the belt with him, ending its lineage. "The American Nightmare," who touts himself as WWE's "QB1," was adamant he wasn't going to let that happen, and the pair's clash at WrestleMania was set to be the main event of the entire weekend.

With no "Final Boss" in sight, Cena and Rhodes battled in the ring in the main event of night two of WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Cena dominated the first part of the match with spiteful offense that fans hadn't seen from him before. Rhodes wouldn't go down so easily, however, and attempted to battle back against the future Hall of Famer with multiple Cody Cutters and Cross Rhodes. The referee was taken out of the match, allowing for Cena to use more nefarious tactics to take out Rhodes, including smashing the then-champion's face off the exposed turnbuckle metal.

While The Rock had still be rumored to make an appearance, it was Scott, instead, who showed up to help Cena get the victory. The rapper entered to "FEIN!" and slowly made his way down the ramp. He interfered by pulling the referee out of the ring before the count could be made following a Cross Rhodes to Cena. The rapper and Rhodes faced off in the ring and Rhodes took him out with another Cross Rhodes before turning back to Cena, who looked to hit him with the title belt. 

Rhodes grabbed it out of Cena's hands, and instead of clocking him with it to gain the victory, he hesitated, and Cena hit a low blow. Cena called for the referee to hustle back into the ring and got the three count to win his record-breaking 17th title at his final WrestleMania.

In the weeks following, Rhodes would take a hiatus from WWE after carrying the company since his win over Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 40. Cena would focus on his career-long rival, Randy Orton, for his first title defense at Backlash the following month.

Cena had moved on from Orton after successfully retaining over "The Viper" in his hometown of St. Louis, Missouri. Cena went on to feud with R-Truth after Truth interfered in his match against Orton, then interrupted him at the Backlash press conference. Truth was sent through the table by his former "childhood hero" with an AA. That led to their non-title match at Saturday Night's Main Event in Tampa, Florida on May 24.

Rhodes made his return to WWE at Saturday Night's Main Event when he rescued former tag team partner, then-World Heavyweight Champion, Jey Uso from an attack by Cena. Uso successfully defended his title at the NBC special against Logan Paul before he was attacked by Cena, with a shocked Paul watching on. Rhodes' music hit, and after he fought off both of the heels, he challenged them to a tag team match, with him partnering with Uso, at Money in the Bank.

Rhodes and Uso defeated the Undisputed WWE Champion and Paul at Money in the Bank, with a little help from R-Truth, who returned after initially being let go from the company. Rhodes and Cena would not be finished with each other however, and Rhodes and Uso would even meet again shortly in the King of the Ring tournament.

Following his Money in the Bank tag team victory, Rhodes set his sights on getting back to Cena and the Undisputed WWE Championship once again. Rhodes entered the King of the Ring tournament to earn a shot at Cena at SummerSlam. He defeated Andrade, Damian Priest, and Shinsuke Nakamura in a fatal four-way match in the first round of the tournament, then toppled Jey Uso in the following weeks to advance to the final. 

Rhodes met Randy Orton, who also was attempting to get back to Cena, at Night of Champions in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. During the match, Rhodes worked a bit more aggressively, causing fans to wonder if a double turn might be possible for Cena and Rhodes at SummerSlam. "The American Nightmare" defeated Orton with a Cross Rhodes to become the 2025 King of the Ring. 

While Rhodes was winning his way through the tournament, Cena entered his next championship program against CM Punk, who issued his challenge for the Undisputed WWE title on the June 9 episode of "WWE Raw." The pair traded words for weeks leading up to Night of Champions, including Cena cutting a "reverse pipe bomb" promo on Punk after leaving him laying in the middle of the ring. Despite Punk's previous comments and unwillingness to travel to Saudi Arabia, he and Cena faced off for the title at Night of Champions.

Cena retained the title in an overbooked match where Mr. Money in the Bank Seth Rollins, Bron Breakker, Bronson Reed, Penta, and Sami Zayn interfered. Cena got the pin on Punk following Rollins hitting him with the briefcase, then a stomp to lay him out.

Cena did not make any appearances on either "Raw" or "SmackDown" following his Night of Champions victory over Punk, as the remaining dates on his retirement tour, something he had been keeping track of and even revealing to the fans since turning heel, are dwindling. Rhodes appeared to cut a few promos following his King of the Ring victory, but nothing of real substance in Cena's absence. However, Cena and Rhodes did meet face-to-face on the July 18 episode of "SmackDown," where things escalated quickly ahead of their SummerSlam match.

During the contract signing for their match, Rhodes told Cena it wouldn't just be a match for the title at SummerSlam, it would be a street fight. The formal contract signing turned into a brawl after Cena told Rhodes he didn't even want the match and refused to sign the contract. Cena said he was emotionally exhausted and burnt out and wanted to pull out of the match and attempted to leave the ring. Rhodes beat down the champion and hit him with a splash that sent Cena through the table. Rhodes then forced Cena to sign the contract, guiding Cena's hand to the paper and scribbling his signature.

Two weeks after Rhodes forged Cena's signature on the contract for what is now a street fight, Cena made an appearance in the opening segment of "SmackDown" ahead of SummerSlam. He couldn't get a word out before he was interrupted by Rhodes, but when the men were face-to-face for the final time before their championship bout at "The Biggest Party of the Summer," all Cena did was apologize. 

While many fans speculated the double turn at SummerSlam, Cena surprised fans by going back to his babyface ways ahead of the match. He thanked Rhodes and told him that Rhodes assaulting him and forging his signature on the match contract was the "boot in the a**" he needed. 

Cena admitted he made a mistake five months ago when he turned heel, "when he bought into someone's idea of making shocking TV," seemingly referencing The Rock. Cena admitted he never wanted to "ruin wrestling." He said Rhodes was a good friend, because he forced him to face himself. Cena said that their street fight would force him to dig down and be who he really is. "The Leader of the Cenation" told fans to mark it down, that August 1, 2025 in Newark, New Jersey was the day that "John Cena came back to WWE." Notably, due to reports about Travis Scott's apparent falling out with WWE, Cena noted that he would be the only platinum rapper showing up to face Rhodes.

Rhodes and Cena toasted with a pair of beers in the ring before Cena celebrated with the fans. With Cena's seemingly abrupt face turn on Friday, fans are left to speculate Rhodes' fate, and if he'll turn heel when he and Cena square off Sunday night for the Undisputed WWE Championship.