John Cena versus Cody Rhodes is one of the most important matches slated for WrestleMania 41. The build to the match has been a point of debate, but there’s no argument about how big this match is for the promotion. With a few weeks left until the PLE, WWE announced that John Cena will appear on the final WWE SmackDown before WrestleMania.
John Cena is a busy Hollywood actor who is preparing for the launch of the second season in the show that helped him gain a lot of acting momentum, Peacemaker. With such a hectic schedule, he hasn’t been around for all the weekly WWE programming. And when he has, Cena and Rhodes have exchanged long promo segments, with them only recently getting physical when Rhodes attacked Cena.
The John Cena versus Cody Rhodes build remains divisive among fans
There’s a lot of debate about how this build has gone. Some are enjoying the nearly 30-minute promos between the two. Others want to see more action, using the violence of professional wrestling to tell the story. Often times, there’s a mix between the two, but WWE has been long known to lean more into the drama of sports entertainment.
Imagine a situation in which Cena returned to Monday Night Raw immediately after his attack on Rhodes at Elimination Chamber. During his return, he’s confronted by his biggest fan in R-Truth, who is perplexed by the actions of his childhood hero. This confrontation would lead to a match in the main event.
However, this wouldn’t be a match. Instead, it would be Cena assaulting Truth in a way that would be above and beyond anything seen on television recently. Think back to what Brodie Lee did to Rhodes early in AEW. Cena would send Truth away (as he’s rarely on television anyway) via a violent stretcher job to get over the point that this isn’t the guy the WWE Universe has loved and hated for two decades. The goal would be to leave fans in stunned silence, and that would be a segment to make it happen.
Would this have been a better start to the build between Rhodes and Cena? Potentially. Is what they are currently doing working? In a sense, sure. Either way, the final phase of that build will happen on the April 18 episode of WWE SmackDown as John Cena will appear one night before WrestleMania 41.