The events leading up to and including John Cena’s championship win at WrestleMania 41 were executed properly. But the next eight months left fans scratching their heads. I think we all knew that he would become the “never-seen” seventeen-time champion, but we didn’t see how it would all unfold with the gold around his waist.

The Champ is Here

On the Raw after Mania, the newly crowned champ, Cena, cut a scathing heel promo proclaiming himself as the last real undisputed champion. And he announced his intention to retire with the title and ruin wrestling. After his unsavory words, he was greeted by a slithering viper, who struck quicker than a mongoose and bit him with an RKO. His longtime nemesis, Randy Orton, who is now a beloved babyface, stood over the villainous champion as the top challenger for the gold.

WWE’s PLE, Backlash, was. held in Orton’s hometown, St. Louis, MO. In normal circumstances, Orton, a 14-time World Champion, is one of the few people who could beat Cena. Nobody would be surprised, but not on his farewell tour, not a month into Cena’s championship reign. As expected, Cena was victorious.

This match was a dropped ball. Not because I think Orton should’ve won, but rather that nobody expected him to win, and that is a huge problem. To build up the match, you need believability. This match was run-of-the-mill Cena against one of his biggest rivals, Orton. Why would WWE waste this match this early into John’s run? If I had the pencil, Orton/ Cena would have happened in August. I would have built it up and dropped crumbs at their meeting before finally feeding the fans what they’ve been salivating for since Mania.

Cena R-Truth Feud

One big reason I would have waited is the secondary feud that John Cena was involved in, between the champion and the bewildered and beloved babyface, R-Truth. R-Truth claimed that Cena was his childhood hero, despite the seemingly ageless Truth being five years older than John. This story should have been embraced and invested in. Fans would have eaten it up.

The R-Truth saga starts with Truth congratulating Cena on his win, being overly chummy to a disdained and annoyed champion. Here is how I would build the match… Finally, John snaps and beats Truth to a pulp. Due to the overwhelming popularity of Truth, the attack on a fan favorite of that caliber would only make Cena a more hated heel. When R-Truth returns, he challenges his former hero. Which brings us to their match at Saturday Night’s Main Event.

At SNME, everyone expected a squash match, and that was basically what they got. Truth had a few moments of offense, but nobody really expected him to win. If I were writing the script, I would have still planned for him to lose, but instead, I would have liked to see a point where Truth dominates the match. To the point where Cena needs to resort to dastardly deeds to steal the victory. He is a heel, after all. He doesn’t need to win cleanly.

Following the defeat to Cena at SNME, R-Truth was legitimately released from his contract. Due to overwhelming fan outcry, Truth would subsequently be brought back. To build the heel persona, it would have been cool to see John claim responsibility for Truth being let go. Other than his unwarranted insults towards fans, WWE didn’t do much to push him as a heel.

Money in the Bank

The Money in the Bank PLE featured John looking across the ring at a familiar face, Cody Rhodes. But he wasn’t alone. Rhodes was teaming with World Heavyweight champion, Jey Uso, to take on Cena and social media sensation-turned wrestler, Logan Paul. Cena and Paul had trouble co-existing in the ring, allowing Cody and Uso to carry the momentum.

When the opportunity presented itself, John grabbed his title and hit Cody. Before Cena could cover Cody, he was attacked and struck with his own title by a hooded man, revealed to be a returning R-Truth, who left through the crowd. Cody capitalized with a Cross Rhodes and pinned John.

To me, this match should have happened at SNME, with Cena vs R-Truth at MITB instead. If they had John take out Truth and come back during SNME instead, R-Truth vs Cena at MITB would have been more fitting because they would have had time to develop a better storyline, instead of it feeling rushed.

At the Night of Champions PLE in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, John Cena defended his title against CM Punk. WWE gave us another lackluster championship match. It featured appearances from The Vision (MITB winner Seth Freakin Rollins, who can cash in his briefcase for a title shot at his leisure, Bron Breakker, and Bronson Reed), Penta, and Sami Zayn.

A melee ensued, and John capitalizes and pins Punk to retain his title. I am not a fan of interference for the sake of saving a match. The Vision, Zayn, and Penta had nothing to do with the match. Therefore, why were they present.

Attitude Adjustment

At the mid-summer classic, SummerSlam,John’s next challenger was none other than the man he defeated for the title, Cody Rhodes. In the weeks leading up to SummerSlam, Rhodes had been trying to convince Cena to drop the heel act and come back to the babyface side. All of a sudden, John loves the fans again, and we are not given a reason as to why they scrapped the heel thing. WWE has a bad habit of believing that fans are stupid… so now at SummerSlam, we have two babyfaces, facing off in a Street Fight for the Undisputed WWE Championship.

The Street Fight was fantastic. It was action-packed with back-and-forth momentum swings and near-falls. There was no clear-cut winner of the match. The match came to an end when Cody countered Cena’s Avalanche Attitude Adjustment through a table with a Cody Cutter for the champion.

Cody looked down and saluted Cena before covering him for the pin. A defeated Cena handed Cody his title, and they shared a hug. Cody left for the locker room, and John acknowledged the fans until the music hit, and another former foe emerged. Brock Lesnar entered the ring and ducked a Cena clothesline before laying him out with an F-5.

Lesnar’s return was probably the biggest surprise of Cena’s farewell tour. We had not seen him since the 2023 SummerSlam. He had been off television since being named in former WWE chairman Vince McMahon’s sex trafficking scandal. It was later revealed that John wanted the “Beast Incarnate” to be part of his farewell tour.

Logan Paul Enters Scene

For the Clash in Paris, John Cena waged war with his former partner, Logan Paul. The match was filled with big spots, as had become Paul’s trademark. He is a walking highlight reel. Following a Styles Clash by Cena, Paul attempted a middle-rope crossbody, but John caught him and rolled through into a pair of Attitude Adjustments for the win.

In September, WWE held an event called Wrestlepalooza, which opened with a match between Cena and Lesnar. The Beast Incarnate dominated the match early, which set the pace for the rest of the match.John garnered little offense, but other than three AAs, Lesnar manhandled him for most of the match. This squash match made Cena look weak. I could have done without this one.

Crown Jewel in Perth, Australia, featured Cena vs. “The Phenomenal” AJ Styles. Before Styles’ intro, Cena handed ring announcer Alicia Taylor a piece of paper… with a special introduction for Styles written by Cena. This match was not a grudge match; it was a feature. The contest was a “dream one,” putting the top face of WWE vs TNA‘s long-time “Face that runs the place.” Following his victory over the Phenomenal One, John was hugged and congratulated by Styles, who had previously mentioned his plans to retire in 2026…

Don’t miss Part 3.