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John Cena's record breaking 17th World Championship run ended at SummerSlam after Cody Rhodes defeated him and took the Championship away. This championship run was special in various ways; it was also the only World Championship run of Cena as a heel.
But just before the event, Cena turned babyface again, and he walked in at SummerSlam as a hero; he played the character he is famous for. After dropping the Championship, he was having a sweet time with the crowd. Brock Lesnar appeared after a couple of years to surprise everyone and attacked Cena.
John Cena finally talks about Brock Lesnar's return
The surprise return of Brock Lesnar totally blew the fans away, and even in the year of 2025, WWE managed to keep it completely secret. John Cena finally reflected on this surprise return and getting attacked at the closing moment of the show. Speaking with Adam Glynn recently, the 17 times World Champion said;
John Cena lost his 17th World title to Cody Rhodes at SummerSlam
“I’ve been saying the same thing for 25 years. They deal ’em, I play ’em. You know, I’m just really excited. We got like 12 of these things left. I think SummerSlam was an indication from the audience where everybody kind of knows where we’re closing our book."
Cena was attacked by a returning Brock Lesnar at the end of SummerSlam
“And just because I close my book in December, that doesn’t mean the WWE closes its books. They got to continue their programming going forward. So they’re just trying to make the most exciting shows for the fans. A dozen of them I got left. They deal ‘em, I play ‘em.”
Soon after SummerSlam, it had been reported that John Cena wanted to have a feud with Brock Lesnar during this retirement tour, and that was the reason The Beast Incarnate was brought back. We can expect to have a series of matches between these two wrestling legends, and Lesnar can also be the final opponent of Cena's wrestling career.
