It took a few months to get there but Cody Rhodes did indeed get his rematch with John Cena for the WWE championship in the main event of tonight’s (Sun., Aug. 3, 2025) SummerSlam
premium live event at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. He won the King of the Ring tournament at Night of Champions and then set his sights on turning Cena away from the dark side and back to being the babyface savior he always was.On Friday Night SmackDown just two nights ago, he managed to do just that.
Cena was back as, well, himself for this one:
THE REAL JOHN CENA JUST STOOD UP!
— WWE (@WWE) August 4, 2025
THE REAL JOHN CENA IS BACK AT SUMMERSLAM! pic.twitter.com/KQUxEGmL49
They proceeded to have a fun Street Fight, with plenty of gimmicks introduced along the way. The Indiana Pacers’ Tyrese Haliburton had one of his crutches taken by Cena to be used as a weapon. But they also used some banned moves, like when Cody pulled out the piledriver:
HE REALLY JUST WENT THERE! pic.twitter.com/ngqiwArePi
— WWE (@WWE) August 4, 2025
They ended up throwing everything at each other, like Cena hitting a jumping AA from one announce table to another, sending the challenger crashing through it. Even that only got a two count.
They fought all the way through the crowd, and even under the stage. They had a cinematic spot from there, with Cena using the elevator Cody used to make his entrance to set him for an AA, one he delivered onto the ramp. He picked Rhodes up from there, literally fireman carrying him to the ring to try to finish it off.
Instead, Rhodes came to and drove Cena through a table set up in the corner and followed up with another Cross Rhodes — that still only got two!
He straight up unscrewed a turnbuckle to try to keep the champ down, using it as a weapon multiple times. The fans booed more and more with each shot. Even still, Cena fought out, got Cody down, and used the rope for the STF. Cody reversed and did the same. The stalemate was broken by Cody getting not just one, but two, and then a third Cross Rhodes, number five in the match.
Cena kicked out again.
HOW? HOW?!
— WWE (@WWE) August 4, 2025
JUST HOW?!? pic.twitter.com/JvMgpWLPuc
Cena responded by hitting Cody with three straight AA’s, including one off the top rope, and that also didn’t get a pinfall. This was the most extreme version of finisher spam giving us some crazy false finishes. Shortly after, Rhodes even hit a Cody Cutter off the top rope through the table.
Then, a salute.
One more Cross Rhodes.
That one finally, mercifully did the trick.
After, Cena gave Rhodes the endorsement in the ring, handing him the title and raising his arm in victory before fireworks lit up the night sky.
Get complete SummerSlam results and coverage of every match on night two by clicking here.
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