• Cena defeated Cody Rhodes in the main event of WrestleMania 41
  • Cena has now surpassed Ric Flair’s 16 World Title reigns
  • Travis Scott interfered on Cena’s behalf
John Cena lifts the WWE Title over his head after defeating Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 41.
Credit: WWE Credit: WWE

John Cena made history at WrestleMania 41 by defeating Cody Rhodes to claim his 17th World Title in WWE.

Cena has now surpassed Ric Flair’s record of 16 World Title victories. However, only two of Flair’s reigns actually took place with WWE. The rest came as the champion of the National Wrestling Alliance and World Championship Wrestling throughout the 1980s and ’90s.

In the main event of night two of WrestleMania 41, Cena overcame Rhodes after a low blow and a shot to the head with the title belt. Rapper Travis Scott had earlier interfered in the bout. However, Scott’s interference led to him being laid out by Rhodes.

But while Rhodes gave Scott his receipt for the burst eardrum the rapper delivered to him at Elimination Chamber, in March, Cena recovered to map out his road to victory.

John Cena – Record Breaker

Clutching the WWE Title belt, the one time Doctor of Thuganomics attempted to nail Rhodes in the head with it. Rhodes managed to wrestle the belt from Cena’s grasp, however. But as Rhodes become tormented over whether to hit Cena himself, Cena seized on the champion’s indecisiveness and sent him crashing to the canvas with a low blow.

Cena then picked the title back up and delivered the knockout blow. One three count later and West Newbury, Massachusetts’ finest was a record breaking 17 time World Champion.

The victory was emphatically received by the capacity crowd of over 63,000 inside the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Despite Cena shockingly turning heel just over a month ago. The audience in Vegas were clearly excited to bear witness to the future Hall of Famer’s final WrestleMania match.

Last year, Cena announced that 2025 would serve as his retirement tour. He is reportedly booked for somewhere in the region of 30-40 dates throughout the year.

Clearly, the opportunity to see the Peacemaker star one last time at the Showcase of the Immortals was enough for many fans to switch their own allegiances to Cena from usual fan favourite Rhodes.

Social Media Reacts

Naturally, no sooner had the referee’s hand hit the canvas for the third time than social media was erupting upon history being made.

Cena was tonight announced for a WWE Premium Live Event in Perth, Australia in October, which will mark his final ever appearance in the country as an active in-ring performer. He is also due to compete at Clash In Paris, in September. At the time of writing, there is no confirmation if he will appear at WWE’s next major event – Backlash on Saturday, May 10 – but it is likely he will be there to make his first title defence. The show will take place in St. Louis, Missouri, hometown of Cena’s longtime rival Randy Orton.

To catch up with everything that happened during night one of WrestleMania 41, you can check out all the best reactions here to a wild Saturday night in Las Vegas.

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Joe Baiamonte
Joe spent four years heading up SPORTbible’s editorial team before taking over at UNILAD Sport. Joe has regularly provided WWE coverage for almost a decade, interviewing many of the biggest names in the business and covering several major events in the United States and Europe, including four WrestleManias.
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