Cody Rhodes reclaimed the Undisputed WWE Championship from John Cena at SummerSlam 2025 — and the story of how that match came together is as compelling as the bout itself.
Speaking on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Rhodes explained that his WrestleMania 41 loss to Cena never shook his confidence because he always understood it was one chapter of a longer story. “I never was not committed, and I never doubted John. That is a hard sell for a WrestleMania, but when you know your story goes all the way to SummerSlam, you stay committed.”
Rhodes and Cena Put the Match Together Over Cigars the Night Before SummerSlam
The match itself was built the old-fashioned way. Rhodes recalled spending the night before SummerSlam with Cena over cigars in New York, the two of them talking through the match in a way that felt more organic than formal. “We were talking about it, then we’d talk about something else, and then we’d slip back into it. It was the most I think I’ve ever focused in my mind.” He spent the rest of the night making sure he had retained everything they’d discussed, knowing Cena’s old-school approach meant they might not see each other again before showtime.
Rhodes also touched on Cena using his signature elevator entrance — dubbed the “Codyvator” — for the first time, crediting Triple H for the idea. “There’s a guy backstage who runs Gorilla, Temarrio — he does not like the Codyvator because it’s expensive. But I joked that we were getting bang for the buck with two uses of it that night.” Rhodes closed by praising Cena’s enduring physical strength: “I can fall off your shoulders at a certain point. He’s still got it. All the functional strength — that’s never going to go away.”