The Story So Far: John Cena Vs. Cody Rhodes At WWE WrestleMania 41

John Cena goes into this weekend looking to finally capture his 17th WWE world title as he faces Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes in the main event on Sunday. Since dethroning AJ Styles and reigning for just two weeks in 2017, Cena has yet to capture another title at any level, coinciding with the phasing out of his full-time wrestling career and into Hollywood stardom. 

Not for lack of trying, with Cena entering a six-pack challenge at Fastlane 2018 and attempting to wrest the Universal Championship from Roman Reigns at SummerSlam 2021 to no avail. Rhodes, on the other hand, started his maiden reign as WWE Champion by defeating that very man three years, an Undisputed title unification, and several opponents – including himself – later. He has reigned since then fending off the likes of AJ Styles, Kevin Owens, Logan Paul, and Solo Sikoa, as well as becoming just the fourth man to defeat the WWE World Heavyweight Champion, Gunther, for the WWE Crown Jewel Championship at the namesake event. 

This will be the first time that Rhodes and Cena square off since the former has become the "American Nightmare" fans have come to love or hate, and it was just over 10 years ago that he was wrestling "The Greatest of All Time" donning the face paint of Stardust. Prior to that they had met on three occasions in 2013, 2010, and 2009 respectively, all of which had Cena emerge as the victor. 

But that was a long time ago and neither competitor would claim to be the same man, Cena is coming into this having not won a singles match on pay-per-view since 2018, and Rhodes has been the face of the brand for over 370 days since slaying the "Tribal Chief" that had felled Cena before. The story between them has been layered, twisted, and shaped into an unlikely battle of contemporary good against corrupted evil; the hero that became the villain, and the heir to the mantle. With that in mind, this is the story so far.

This particular story started the night before WrestleMania Sunday last year, with The Rock returning to the ring for the first time in almost a decade and leveraging his position as the "Final Boss" to eventually secure the pin over Rhodes. That win set the stage for the next night, the WWE Championship match between Rhodes and Reigns was made a Bloodline Rules match and saw a number of stars on both sides make their presence known. 

Among the heroes that helped Rhodes eventually succeed Reigns was none other than Cena, coming out to a pop from the crowd to remove the interfering Solo Sikoa; The Rock then emerged to take Cena out with a Rock Bottom, only to be himself removed from the equation by The Undertaker. When Rhodes had finally won the title, Cena even stood in the ring as part of the celebrating ensemble. The next night on "WWE Raw," The Rock emerged to remind Rhodes that he had pinned him and their story had only just started.

Many months had passed until Rock addressed the next chapter of that story, declaring during a February "WWE SmackDown" that he doesn't want a match with Rhodes, nor the title he holds, but rather his soul. Rhodes had until Elimination Chamber to make his decision, which would also coincidentally be the night that saw his WrestleMania 41 challenger determined. 

Meanwhile, Cena had already announced that 2025 would be his last full year of competition and as a result, he would be wrestling his last Royal Rumble match with the goal of going to his last WrestleMania to be crowned the record-holding WWE Champion. He entered the Rumble as planned, making it to the final two but falling short through a flash elimination by Jey Uso.

Immediately after the event, a dejected Cena went into the post-show press conference to address his next steps. He displayed a different cadence to what fans had come to expect from the corporate babyface standing for "Hustle, Loyalty & Respect" as he outright declared he would be entering the Elimination Chamber, because in his words it would be best for business to have him main event the "Show of Shows" and break the record.

He would not be seen in the weeks following, as it became clear with Jey Uso's challenge to Gunther that the opportunity on the line would be to face Rhodes at WrestleMania. Cena entered the match as the fifth entrant, coming close to being eliminated by Drew McIntyre but ultimately choking out CM Punk to win and secure his place against Rhodes – albeit with a little help from Seth Rollins. Cena and Rhodes then stared down as has come to be expected from a challenger with their champion, and all seemed to be going well for the pair of them as The Rock and Travis Scott emerged for the "American Nightmare" to make the decision on his soul.

Cena seemed to be siding with Rhodes after he told The Rock to "go f*** yourself," and the pair engaged in a celebratory hug. But the moment they were locked together, Cena's face contorted from a smile to a frown as Rock signaled for him to do the seemingly impossible: turn heel on Rhodes. Together with The Rock Cena battered Rhodes in the middle of the ring and left him bloodied face down on the canvas.

But the focus swiftly shifted in the following weeks of Cena appearing away from the idea that he had sold his soul to The Rock, with Cena's rationale for turning instead focused on the way fans had dropped him as their favorite in lieu of Rhodes, and proclaiming his intent to not only take the title away from Rhodes but to retire with it and take it away from the business itself. He went further in a personal exchange with Rhodes to say that he wants to bury Rhodes, to which Rhodes said that Cena remained his hero – even if he was an "a**hole" – before driving him to the mat in defiance with a Cross Rhodes.

Rhodes would do the same when they met in the ring on the go-home episode of "WWE SmackDown," after Cena told Rhodes he believed he could beat him the moment he said what he did to The Rock, with the perception that Rhodes cares too much about what the fans think he should do. And until he realizes that he doesn't need them, he will continue to lose. 

The next chapter of the story is to be written on Sunday, with Cena looking to usher in an age with himself at the top until the very last day of the year and beyond his wrestling career, Rhodes defending the work he has put in to become the WWE Champion and carry the brand, and the looming question of where The Rock factors in. But until that starting bell, only time will tell who sits on what side of history.