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The legendary rivalry between John Cena and Cody Rhodes started at the end of the Elimination Chamber event last March. John Cena earned the opportunity to challenge for the Undisputed WWE Championship, winning the men's Elimination Chamber match. He shocked the entire world by attacking Cody Rhodes, which cemented his heel turn after 22 years.
Cena then went on to defeat Rhodes to win the Undisputed WWE Championship at WrestleMania 41 and had his record breaking 17th World title reign. It was also his only World Championship run as a heel. During this run, he even defended the title against some of the biggest rivals of his career, like Randy Orton and CM Punk.
Matt Hardy praised the John Cena vs Cody Rhodes match
At Summerslam, Cena went on to defend the title against the former champion Rhodes, but before the match, he had already turned babyface, and we got the Classic John Cena back in this match. Rhodes finally mastered Cena in this match and defeated him to take the title away from him. WWE Hall of Famer Matt Hardy recently praised this match while speaking on his “The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy” podcast. He said;
Cody Rhodes defeated Cena to win back the WWE Championship at SummerSlam
“Once again, I thought they both busted their a*s, especially John. I thought John really did have his working shoes on, no doubt about it. And they went out there, they told a great story. They did different things. They tried to be as creative as they could be. They beat each other down. They hit each other with so many finishes and just kept getting out.
Cena dropped his 17th World Championship at Summerslam
"And it wasn’t enough, it wasn’t enough. And they really made it seem like this legendary match right from the jump, and it was cool. And they had these moments, like where they fall underneath the stage, and the whole visual of Cena coming up with Cody on his shoulders in his elevator. All that stuff was really cool and added so much intrigue to it."
Both Cena and Rhodes have done an amazing job in this no disqualification match. The match was extremely brutal and punishing, and most importantly, it was really entertaining. Surely, Cena is not going back to the World Championship picture again. Hopefully, Cody Rhodes will continue the legacy holding the Undisputed WWE Championship.
