Cody Rhodes Reflects On His Final Showdown With John Cena At SummerSlam For WWE Championship

The American Nightmare reflects on his rivalry with John Cena.

August kicked off in a big way for the WWE when the American Nightmare, Cody Rhodes fought the Greatest of All Time, John Cena in what was billed as their final showdown at the biggest party of the summer for the WWE Championship.

Days before the big show, Cena decided enough was enough and faced the actions of his consequences when he broke out of his evil spell and promised the world that we would be seeing the old Cena come back to finish his story against Rhodes, however, that was not the case and the American Nightmare was able to get the revenge he wanted since the night of WrestleMania Sunday.

While speaking with Jimmy Traina of Sports Illustrated, Rhodes reflected on the night of WrestleMania 29 in 2013 where his match was cut short minutes prior to the main event between Cena and the Rock, and how coming back to that same arena in 2025 was a much different feeling, but the same goal he had in mind.

“I took a moment before the match and before John handed [the title] to me. I thought this memory would be way more present, but as I was under the stage, it hit me, and I’m shocked I didn’t remember this… that is the stage I went and hid under after my match got cut at WrestleMania 29. The same place I’m getting in the elevator to rise up and hopefully get number two, is where I sat in my feelings after getting my match cut, meaning my match was taken off the show minutes before it happened. When I realized that and I was coming up (the elevator), is where I really wanted to take stock of every feeling I had.”

Cena was attacked right after the match by the returning Brock Lesnar who had not been seen on WWE TV since he fought Rhodes at SummerSlam years ago.

Lesnar was named forty-four times in a lawsuit by former WWE Employee, Janel Grant, who alleges she was sexually assaulted and trafficked by the likes of Vince McMahon, John Laurinaitis, the WWE, and Lesnar, who was sent disturbing images to allegedly convince him to sign an extension with the WWE.

Rhodes is scheduled to feud with Drew McIntyre for the WWE Championship at Clash in Paris.

You can watch the full interview with Cody Rhodes below.

(Please credit Rami Hanna and Bodyslam.net when using the transcription/quote above.)

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