John Cena’s WWE farewell tour has gone a lot differently than expected, with the rollercoaster beginning at Elimination Chamber when he aligned with The Rock and Travis Scott to take down Cody Rhodes. Since then, The Rock hasn’t been seen in WWE, and after WrestleMania 42, neither has Scott. Tonight on SmackDown, Cena confronted Rhodes before their match at SummerSlam, and not only did he seem to ditch the heel run, but the reason why called out both Rock and Scott for not living up to their word.
Cena started things off by acknowledging the SummerSlam street fight that’s happening this weekend. “Cody Rhodes, I told you that I was exhausted and that a match at SummerSlam would be too difficult for me. You didn’t listen. You assaulted me. You forged my signature, and you forced me into one of the most dangerous matches in the WWE on one of its grandest stages for its biggest Championship. I only got one thing to say to you…Thank you, because that was just the boot in the ass that I needed,” Cena said.
As you might expect, that shocked both the crowd and Rhodes, but Cena continued to address his recent decisions and the regrets that have been slipping in about what he turned his back on. He seems to especially regret doing something just for the sake of “shocking TV”
“For 25 years, day in and day out, I have forged a reputation out of hard work, honesty, and respect. And I now realize that five months ago I flushed it all down the toilet chasing false glory when I bought into somebody’s crazy idea to make shocking TV,” Cena said. “And we did. We shocked the world. We made great TV, but then the dust settles, and then everybody goes back to their normal lives and the people that were supposed to be on my team left. And they left me alone, trying to pretend to be something I’m not.”
Then Cena addressed why he really wants to leave with the Championship. “I want to leave here with this. After my last match, I want to take this home with me, but it’s not because I want to ruin wrestling. Geez you guys know I don’t want to ruin wrestling, I love wrestling. I want to take this home with me so after I’m gone you guys don’t forget about me. I was so hung up on how you might see me tomorrow that I forgot to realize how stupid I’m acting today,” Cena said.
“You tried to tell me, over and over again you tried to tell me, but I didn’t listen. Cody, you tried to tell me, but I didn’t listen. But you did what a good friend should do. You forced me to face it. You forced me into a fight. Not a match, a fight,” Cena said. “Something that’s gonna be brutal. Something that’s gonna force me to dig down and be who I really am. Something that if I don’t show up for war, I shouldn’t show up at all. Mark your calendars, August 1st, 2025, Newark, New Jersey, the day that John Cena came back to WWE!”
Cena ended his promo by taking one more shot at Scott and reiterating that the real Cena was back. “I don’t know who leaves with this on Sunday, but I do know who wins, each and every one of you, because I’m finally over my own B.S, and at long last, we get to see Cody Rhodes face off against the greatest of all time at my best! With something to prove in the main event street fight with no rules that you wanted. Well if you want some, come get some! And on Sunday, the only platinum rapper showing up to whip your ass is me. The Champ is here!”
With that statement, there are two ways this could go. Either Cena is being 100% legitimate and is really back to his former babyface ways, or he is trolling Rhodes and the crowd and plans to turn on everyone again when SummerSlam rolls around. If it’s the former, that could be the thing that finally gets Rock back on TV as a part of this story, either to attack Cena, help Cena, or possibly align with someone else.
It will be intriguing to see what happens at SummerSlam, and either way, this move makes it far more interesting. If it’s real, then this could be one of the most abrupt and yet effective face turns in recent memory, especially as it literally alludes to real life with the “shocking TV” line. If it’s trolling from Cena, then it does raise the intrigue factor going into SummerSlam and could be something that helps cement his heel run moving forward.
What do you think of what Cena had to say, and is he being honest, or are we getting lied to? Let us know in the comments, and you can talk all things wrestling with me on Bluesky @knightofoa!
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