For over 2 decades, John Cena has been a force to be reckoned with. When he is inside the ring, he pulls out random moves that he has never used before. However, he is equally dangerous, when he has a microphone on his hand. The 16-time WWE Champion is considered to be one of the greatest trash talkers of this generation, who can tear down his rivals with mere words.
As a result, many consider his promos to be a pure work of art that can sometimes get to you on a personal level. However, his promo skills lacked the same flair as before as he cooked Cody Rhodes at Forest National in Brussels, Belgium.
This promo reminded fans of the Reigns-Rhodes face-off ahead of WrestleMania 39, where the OTC cooked him so hard on the mic that got hailed as one of the greatest moments of his career.
A ‘heel’ John Cena lost to Cody Rhodes in a promo battle
The Road to WrestleMania 41 is getting heated as John Cena made his first appearance at Forest National in Brussels, Belgium. This segment of Monday Night RAW was memorable for many reasons, one being Cena cutting his first-ever promo as a heel as he turned his back on the fans earlier this month at the 2025 Elimination Chamber pay-per-view.
The show kicked off with the Leader of Cenation kicking off the show, and walking out to give a justification for why he gave in and sold out. The promo was an iconic one via WWE, where he addressed himself as a “victim of an abusive relationship.” The crowd booed, making things easier for him proving him right, how he was nothing but a mere puppet for them for the past 25 years.
He mentioned how the crowd wasn’t worthy of his attention, and how his principles of “Hustle, Loyalty, and Respect” were not enough to earn their respect. Because when he went on to winning titles and giving everything they hated him. The boos grew louder, chanting “Shut the f**k up,” proving his point of how they “ruin everything.”
The crowd now chanted “We want Cody!” to which Cena called the new champ their “brand-new shiny toy.” He went on to humiliate the Forest National crowd, saying how people booing him are “horrible people,” but the “Let’s Go Cena!” people are just as awful.
The Cenation Leader claimed how these people “steal” his moments from him and how he is nothing but an object of entertainment for them. He then turned to the camera, and said, “I am breaking up with every single one of you.”
Cody Rhodes finally decided to come out and sided with the fans, claiming that they did all those things for him because Cena could carry their hopes and expectations. Cena started, “Listen kid…” only to get interrupted by the Champ, who mocked him, asking him, “Who the hell are you? Where is the guy on this shirt?”
The American Nightmare cooked Mr. Hustle, Loyalty, and Respect, claiming that his attack on him wasn’t good enough. He warned his WrestleMania opponent to not show up as a “whiny b*tch” when he comes out to face him at the show of shows. Cena getting cooked on the microphone reminded fans of that promo, where Reigns gave a midlife crisis to Rhodes ahead of WM39.
Roman Reigns cooked Cody Rhodes ahead of WM39
With Cena getting cooked on the mic for the first time, fans were reminded of the intense promo battle in 2023 via Instagram, featuring Roman Reigns along with his Bloodline members and the 2023 Royal Rumble winner, Cody Rhodes.
The promo quickly went down, where Reigns put both of his titles, the WWE Heavyweight and the Universal Championship belt on the ring, pointed at the titles, and said,
You ever won that one? Have you even competed for one of these? Have you ever been in the main event of WrestleMania before? Because I’m pretty sure I’ve done did all of that. So that means I’m the most experience main event of all time.
However, he was not done here because he decided to hit the final nail in Rhodes’ coffin by hitting him with something personal. He added,
But here’s the kicker, I’ve been groomed not only by my father, but also by your father as well.
The Head of the Table made Rhodes clam up, leaving him too startled to speak. The promo ended with Reigns going for a handshake, but he claimed how he would end his championship reign and complete his story. Well, he couldn’t as he was defeated and waited another year, getting a storyline of the century and some assistance from Seth Rollins to become the new face of WWE.
The WWE Universe are disappointed to see Cena fumble during his promo
After weeks of waiting, when fans learned that Rhodes and Cena would be under the same roof, they had high hopes, thinking that the American Nightmare would be ripped apart by the future Hall of Famer. But much to their disappointment, they witnessed one of the greatest fumbles of all times: Cena getting hushed on mic.
Despite the storyline getting more tensed, with the Cenation Leader getting a new look, fans felt that Rhodes getting favored during the promo was a bad move, and they didn’t hesitate to showcase it on social media. The fans commented,
Not even a ‘Fine speech’
— W.E. (@WrestlingEurope) March 17, 2025
If Cena spoke more Cody would become a midcarder so😭🙏🏻
— Freja 🇸🇪🏳️🌈 (@RheaAllDay) March 17, 2025
Called Cena a “whiny bitch” when that’s literally Cody’s entire fanbase 😒
— ShinobiBk (@ShinobiBk) March 17, 2025
Cena cooks Cody and they all know it they’re saving it for reasons I don’t understand
— Miguel Madrigal (@Maddogg_85) March 18, 2025
bald guy definitely told cena “ go easy on cody “ 🤦🏿♂️
— َ (@LouieK_) March 17, 2025
they protecting cody
— João Lucas ✞ 𝕏 (@JLucaVasco) March 17, 2025
Nevertheless, with WM41 almost a month away, fans are hoping that WWE to step up and create a storyline that surpasses what they witnessed last year at WrestleMania XL.
WrestleMania 41 will be a two-night event taking place on Saturday, April 19, and Sunday, April 20, 2025.
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