The Undisputed WWE Championship changed hands when John Cena dethroned Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 41. While this has brought Cena to the focal point of the attention of the fans, here are four wrestlers who are negatively affected because of his title win.
#4 Cody Rhodes is getting another redemption arc
Cody Rhodes’ journey from WrestleMania 39 to WrestleMania XL was one of the finest redemption arcs put together by WWE in a long time. After failing to dethrone Roman Reigns at ‘Mania 39, The American Nightmare earned another chance by winning the Royal Rumble for the second consecutive year.
Instead of just The Bloodline, Rhodes also had to deal with The Rock in his path. Eventually, he managed to put The Tribal Chief down with the help of his allies, especially Seth Rollins, who became his ‘Shield.’ While this was a great and highly acclaimed story, there is no need for WWE to repeat the same formula.
Roman Reigns has been replaced by John Cena this time, and Cody Rhodes has a makeshift ally in Jey Uso, who has replaced Seth Rollins. At the same time, The Final Boss is still lurking and could appear anytime. Thus, the American Nightmare has been recycled into an old plot that fails to offer fans something fresh.
This could result in fans not being too happy with Rhodes’ next run as the Undisputed Champ. His first run was already plagued with title defense matches against just a handful of guys multiple times, like Kevin Owens (thrice), AJ Styles (twice), and Solo Sikoa (twice).
#3 Drew McIntyre’s ascent to the top has been thwarted
Aside from Cody Rhodes, Drew McIntyre was the other wrestler who won WWE’s World Heavyweight Championship. However, he was dethroned within just five minutes owing to a cheap attack by CM Punk, which was capitalized on by Damian Priest to cash in his Money in the Bank contract.
The rest of the year saw The Scottish Psychopath desperately trying to earn his title back, with The Second City Saint sabotaging him at every turn. This led to a three-match feud between the two, which saw Punk win by 2-1 at the 2024 Bad Blood. This should have been followed by getting McIntyre back into the world title picture.
However, despite being a consistently good performer and consecutively winning the 2024 Elimination Chamber, the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania XL, and the 2024 Money in the Bank, this didn’t happen. Instead, he lost his push and was made to feud with Damian Priest, the man who had rendered his ‘Mania victory meaningless.
However, this feud lacked the fire and animosity that characterized the Punk-McIntyre feud. Now, the Scotsman has taken a hiatus after losing to The Punisher in a steel cage match at Saturday Night’s Main Event.
It should be noted that before the Priest feud, The Scottish Psychopath had a few promos with Cody Rhodes where it seemed like he could earn a title shot for the Undisputed Championship. But with John Cena holding the title, that road is blocked for McIntyre. It remains to be seen if he will receive his world title push once he returns from his hiatus.
#2 Randy Orton has been absent since his loss to John Cena at Backlash
John Cena fought Randy Orton in his maiden title defense match as the Undisputed Champion at the 2025 Backlash. The iconic rivals put up a great show and gave the fans several high moments during their match. However, things ended up in a loss for The Viper in front of his home crowd of St. Louis when R-Truth’s interference allowed Cena to low blow him.
While this was consistent and in line with John Cena’s heel persona, Randy Orton hasn’t returned to active programming since this loss. This also resulted in him missing the Money in the Bank qualifiers, which would have given him access to the perfect weapon to dethrone Cena after catching him with an RKO outta nowhere.
#1 John Cena robbed CM Punk of a title shot
CM Punk returned to WWE after nine years, back in November 2023 at the Survivor Series. Since his return, a big chunk of his tenure was lost to a tricep injury. The remainder of it saw him feuding with Drew McIntyre. He then feuded with his sworn enemy, Seth Rollins, which saw Roman Reigns enter the equation after the 2025 Royal Rumble.
While The Second City Saint got to headline WrestleMania 41, he lost the Triple Threat match to Seth Rollins. Moreover, Punk hasn’t received a single world title shot since his return despite always speaking about them in his promos. Like McIntyre, The Straight Edge Superstar had also warned Cody Rhodes that he would come for his title after winning the 2025 Royal Rumble.
Instead, he is just getting more rivalry matches. Surprisingly, these rivalry matches didn’t have John Cena on the menu despite Punk calling him out for siding with The Rock and stepping over him to win the 2025 Elimination Chamber match.
He also failed to qualify for the Money in the Bank ladder match. It would be interesting to see when WWE would dethrone John Cena and free the Undisputed Championship from his retirement run plot armor to make it open for the entire roster.
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