At WrestleMania 41, John Cena defeated Cody Rhodes in the main event on Night Two. This victory came after Cena’s surprising heel turn at the 2025 Elimination Chamber premium live event, where he aligned himself with The Rock. Weeks prior to the Chamber, The Rock made a sudden return, as he claimed, due to the request of TKO CEO Ari Emanuel, who stated they needed to boost ticket sales for the event.
During The Rock’s return segment, he confronted Rhodes, claiming he wanted his soul. This confrontation was originally scheduled to occur earlier in the Elimination Chamber event but was moved to the final segment after Cena won the Chamber match, earning a WWE Title match at WrestleMania.
The Rock stated in a recent interview that he suggested stepping back after the Chamber, wanting the focus to remain on Cena and Rhodes. He also questioned what his role at WrestleMania would have been had he remained involved in the main event match. These comments have led many fans to speculate about potential issues between The Rock and Triple H, as the storyline’s progression hasn’t followed the typically complete, well-planned storylines often seen under Triple H’s creative direction.
Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer shed light on the timing of Cena’s heel turn, noting that it was Cena’s preference to execute the turn at Elimination Chamber rather than waiting until WrestleMania.
Meltzer explained, “I don’t know if he said this or not, there was the decision about John Cena on the day of the show, on whether the turn was going to be that day, or they were to save the turn for WrestleMania. Okay, that was John Cena’s decision. He made the call to do it. [Paul] Levesque makes the final call, but John Cena was the one who the decision came like, within the last couple of days. If you remember the day of the show, the segment with Dwayne [“The Rock” Johnson] was originally going to be after, I think, the first or second match. It was not going to be after the Rumble. And that’s because they were not going to be doing the turn that night. Their turn was going to be at Mania. And then John. Khan wanted to do the turn that night, so they moved the segment to the end of the show and did that.”
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