[5.0] "First I just want to point out how freaking silly and hilarious it was when Cena jumped up after being motionless from the piledriver and hit the AA on Cody right quick, only to immediately collapse again in a heap. Holy crap, I lol'ed for real at that. The rest of the match was decent at best. Cena certainly went crazy with the AA. Threatening with and actually hitting them every few moves. Spammed them so much that by the middle of the match, it had lost all of its impact and looked like an everyday mid-match move. Why are they so intent on destroying the mystique and threat of a given wrestler's finishing move. They're called "FINISHERS" for a freakin' reason, man! They used to be used to finish a match and a kick out was reserved for big time, rare, and shocking moments. Man, do you remember when Kane kicked out of the Tombstone the first time? It was unbelievable! It was a huge part of what helped to build Kane into being regarded and feared as the Big Red Machine. Those days are long gone and it kinda blows. Cena even kicked out of the trifecta of Cross Rhodes. That's just ridiculous. Cody's finisher sucks so bad he has to hit it three times in a row to stop people, but even that is kicked out of this time. Cena hits the Avalanche AA off the top rope and guess what? Cody kicks out. I was honestly pretty checked out at this point but the match continued or something. I love both these guys but I just wasn't feeling this one."
[5.0] "Someone on Reddit told me I have to like this match and well, I don't. I don't hate it and it's better than their Wrestlemania match, but WWE in 2025 is hell bent on having 40 somethings who can't go anymore work 30-40 minute matches. Also, the spot with Cena holding Cody coming up the Codyvator was so, so very stupid. Sitting there waiting for that slow ass contraption to move was good comedy if unintentional. A lot of people love this match and that's fine. I don't. The end."
[5.0] "Das Match ging mir viel zu lange, hatte dadurch mehrere deutliche Längen, die sich wirklih arg gezogen haben, und die beiden sind auch technisch nicht in der Lage, einen entsprechenen Spannungsbogen mit ihrem Wrestling aufzubauen."
[9.0] "Funny how they went from the worst match of the year to one the best. Too many AA's and cross rhodes but still fun match. Made it up for the wrestlemania disaster."
[9.0] "The match between Cody Rhodes and John Cena at SummerSlam was a perfect blend of emotion, skill, and respect between generations. Both superstars proved why they're legends in the ring, delivering a performance worthy of the hottest event of the summer."
[9.0] "Thank God this happened. John Cena's final WrestleMania match may have been ruined, but his final SummerSlam match went quite the opposite. The random face turn two nights before on SmackDown was pretty obviously a pivot because Dwayne doesn't like showing up to work anymore, but it made the moment where his colorful graphics replaced the dull 'John Cena' super special. This was definitely a finisher fest, but it was so much fun and had some great moments like Cena carrying Cody on the elevator and Cena kicking out of the triple Cross Rhodes. Nice passing of the torch moment and I will be ignoring what transpired after. (9.25/10)"
[10.0] "I can understand why some people don't like this since the whole "finisher" concept did kinda get buried here, but honestly who gives a fuck lol. It's Cena's last SummerSlam and this was 10 times better than mania."
[9.0] "The match their Wrestlemania bout should've been, though it's weird how heel-ish Cody became as the match went on without him actually turning heel. Still, fantastic performances all around, and a flat statement of how poor Cena worked as a heel. He's still got it, folks!"
[5.0] "Wenn wir mal ehrlich sind: Wie unterhaltsam ist Cody Rhodes tatsächlich? Nicht besonders, wenn man mich fragt. Und John Cena wrestlet unglaublich fake. Also ist außer Namepower von den Matches der beiden gegeneinander auch nicht viel zu erwarten, wie man hier sieht. Wenn man das Ganze dann noch auf weit über 30 Minuten zieht, wirds noch schlimmer. Die Hälfte hätte bei der geringen Kampfsubstanz gereicht."
"***** This is what WrestleMania 41 is supposed to have. Frankly, SummerSlam is what WrestleMania should've been. This is Super Cena vs Super Cody, The Peacemaker vs Homelander. Both of them kicking out of the other's super finisher is warranted."
[10.0] "Iconic match that will be enjoyable to remember and fun to watch. Future WWE classics. A masterpiece in the pop-WWE style. Synchronous moments, plenty of meme-worthy moments, combined with a lengthy, epic duration, great wrestling, and emotions. Thank you, Cena!"
[5.0] "The truth is, if this match was anything other than a Street Fight, I would have given it a 100% higher score. But, well, the first problem is that Cody Rhodes is in this match. Of course, he's better than the rest of his performances this year. Cena is fantastic and he really gave it his best farewell moment.But the excessive and pointless finishers, the inappropriate ending, and Cody's lack of a hero character make the match look very weak. Of course, it's better than the WrestleMania match, and I wish Cody would have been a heel in this match."
[8.0] "The match was great at the beginning and gave you feelings, but again they made the same mistake: they don't know when to end the match. It was very emotional with excellent performances, but it was too long. Cena gave everything he had left in this match, and I don't think he will top that ****"
[8.0] "I liked the match, but it was nowhere near 5 stars for me. The match had some crazy spots, but not enough to call this a classic. I hated the finisher fest, and the two men kicking out of so many finishers, I lost count. I don't have a problem with kickouts in big matches, but it was just way too much. The two should've been more creative, instead of just spamming finishers. The ending was cool and elevated the match, as I really liked the Cody Cutter off the top rope through the table, and him saluting Cena before the end was also a nice touch. Cody winning the match was the right decision and liked the way how Cena passed the torch. Overall, it was a pretty good match, but went on for way too long and got a little boring in the middle. [****]"
[8.0] "This felt like a Cena match of old, good to see him deliver this kind of performance in the modern times. It had all the spots you would expect from this type of match, but it did get a bit too over-the-top at times, especially with the finisher kickouts. Glad that Cena turned face for this and stayed as such afterwards rather than swerving us and keeping him heel. Odd that he dropped the title rather early but I have no complaints. Rhodes performed very well too, glad that he got the win here. It's not the greatest match of all time by any means but I'll happily take what it gave. Cena and Rhodes definitely redeemed themselves from that horrible WrestleMania match they had four months earlier."
[9.0] "This match made me feel like a kid again, Cena pulled out his 2015 bag, this match was super fun and Cody really made this one emotional too. They both took nasty bumps and there were some cool spots in here too. For not a minute I was bored it was straight action for almost 40 minutes. Cena kicking out of the triple Cross Rhodes, Cody kicking out of the Super AA and Cody doing the salute was perfect before the Cross Rhodes. Easily Cena's best match of the retirement tour."
[8.0] "John Cena's letzter Banger, **** hinzukommend einer ansteigender Tendenz. Im Vergleich zum Street Fight um Dustin Rhodes' AEW TNT Championship zahmer, artistisch jedoch ein Stück frivoler. Cody Rhodes' Titelgewinn ist jetzt nicht so meins, muss man aber mit leben, zumindest hält man ein gewisses Individuum so vorerst aus dem künftigen Titelgeschehen raus, obgleich auch das unabdingbar scheint. Ungeachtet dessen; Cena und Rhodes lieferten sich einen einmal mehr innovativen Street Fight, der langsam begann, jedoch mit fortlaufendem Einsatz verschiedener Gegenstände an Fahrt aufnahm. Spamming beider Finisher ist sicherlich nicht ideal gewesen, machte zeitgleich den Reiz der Paarung - das, und dass Travis Scott nicht erneut eingreift. John Cena's kurzfristiger Face-Turn während der vergangenen SmackDown verhalf der dargebotenen Matchstory hinzukommend, Cody Rhodes' Titeltriumph bekam so immerhin einen abrundenden Schliff."
[8.0] "I really enjoyed this match. It was easily one of Cena's best singles match of the year so far, and it reminded me how strong he can still be when the spotlight is on him. While Cena had a solid showing in the Elimination Chamber, this one really stood out as a true singles showcase. This was full-on babyface Super Cena, taking everything Cody threw at him and surviving, while Cody in turn kicked out of nearly everything Cena delivered. It had that classic Cena PLE main event feel, and to his credit, he rose to the occasion and delivered an epic performance. The decision to fully lean into Cena as a babyface again was smart; he looked more comfortable, and the fans were completely behind him. Cody winning was also the right call; as much as the idea of Cena holding the title one last time is appealing, it makes more sense for him to pass the torch before retiring. My only gripe is that the match leaned a little too heavily on the kickouts; both men survived way too many finishers. It didn't ruin the experience, but it did take away from the drama a bit. Still, the crowd loved it, and so did I. ****"
[10.0] "Ce Cena vs Rhodes à SummerSlam 2025, c'est plus qu'un simple match : un moment de passage, une célébration et une intensité pure. Rhodes et Cena ont donné tout ce qu'ils avaient, des nearfalls trop bien, des spots brutaux, une street fight qui rend hommage à la stipulation. Wikipedia. Le finish était parfait -- Cody enfin champion à nouveau, Cena qui rend hommage, les fans qui vibrent. Ça marque une étape majeure. Pour moi c'est le meilleur match solo de Cena de l'année, et une victoire logique de Cody."
[8.0] "A stupid amount of finishers, but the rest of this thing wasn't too bad. A VAST improvement over their WrestleMania match, that's for sure. Innovative spots and a slow build that paid off with Cody ending this historically stupid Cena heel run. We're not gonna talk about that post match. [****]"
[3.0] "The amount of finishers that were dished out was absolutely absurd & ridiculous. Matches like this will never be my cup of tea but this was on another level of bad. John Cena hit almost 10 finishers & Cody just kicks out of all of them? Why even have finishers if they are just going to be treated like an arm drag. Not to mention everything in this just felt super slow & it felt it was done on purpose"
[9.0] "The chemistry between Cody and Cena was much better than in their first match at Wrestlemania. It's really nice to see John Cena as a face again."
[9.0] "****1/2. MOTY so far. Pretty much what the Mania match should have been in terms of a culminative epic but having Mania so early in the retirement run it's hard to do it. Loved literally everything about it, classic Cena in everyway down to busting out a random workrate move for the pops. he's still got it, and its just a pittance that they turned this guy heel, one of the all-time moments of malpractice. at least this last leg of the run is looking up !"
[10.0] "The culmination of Cody Rhodes and John Cena's feud and the passing of the torch from Cena to Cody. It doesn't quite have the majestic nature of Hogan Vs. Andre, but they do a good job of keeping the crowd invested. People finishing: Finisher spam, bro. Who gives a shit? People take this stuff too seriously. It was an entertaining match and that's all that matters to me. You can tell John Cena is going to miss this, but he's getting too old for this now. It could have used some blood, but otherwise a great passing of the torch between eras."
[6.0] "It was a decent, WWE style sanitary street fight. It's PG-13 at its best. The problems in this match are the same in almost every WWE match. Overuse of finishers, thousand yard stares after kickouts because in kayfabe wrestlers have no long term memory. The spot with the elevator on the stage was incredibly stupid as well. We had to sit there and wait for it and it looked awkward. This isn't a terrible match and Cena had one of his better outings. It simply suffers from the forced epic WWE keeps trying to do. To love this match is to be undemanding and simple and I'm actually envious I'm not like that anymore. Also, 5 stars only matters to fans when it's their favorites. Otherwise Uncle Meltzy is a paid shill somewhere else."
[10.0] "This match is perfect. Utterly insane. I understand the criticisms of this "finisher spam" wrestling but I think this match does it perfectly. Such high stakes, brilliant spots and an incredibly memorable moment of Cena coming up through the stage. Love this match."
[5.0] "I wanted to like this but I counted over 15 finishers combined in this match smh and don't get me started on the ref that was counting this super slow. You can say the silver lining is this was better than their WrestleMania match but it didn't need to take over a dozen finishers to make that happen."
[8.0] "If presented as a mere checklist of ideas, this would've felt like something very much not for me, but it had an undeniable punch in execution. The visible effort of John Cena produced considerable charm to begin with, but that only escalated as he grew into the occasion. In the blink of an eye, Cena had transformed into a version of himself that we hadn't seen all year, wrestling with a smile on his face and regaining the enthusiasm that defined his differing peaks. It's a flawed match, but one with a spiritual gravity that I hadn't anticipated before the first bell. It's dumb, loud and unapologetic, yet that feels true to both wrestlers: a comic book duel between two of WWE's ultimate superheroes. ***3/4"
[10.0] "In John Cena vs AJ Styles 2016 feud they were critiqued for essentially co-opting the NJPW style for main events of big four PPV's; Cody v Cena recreates this style while simultaneously enabling cena's retirement run to have all the pay offs in spots that were teased throughout the heel run. For a match that meaningfully had 1 show on build last Friday, it succeeded at capturing a once in a lifetime feeling especially after the flop of a wrestlemania main event. This match went long, was overly campy at spots, had a lot of laying around, but it was perfect for creating a big match John match. As a viewer I was left speechless at how many quintessential Cena matches were able to be utilized in refreshing ways. You know a match is good when they decide to start going through the crowd 15 minutes in without being falls count anywhere."
[9.0] "A really fun match that had some crazy moments. It had fan engagement from the moment it was announced and lived up to the excitement and made up for the WrestleMania match-up. Cena and Rhodes put a ton into this match. My only real complaint is how many finishers their were. I liked the shocking kickouts of the 3 AA's and the 3 Cross Roads' but everything prior to that was unnecessary especially if this was to happen."
[5.0] "finisher spams are the worst in wrestling, especially in WWE. Definitely a better match than Mania but 5 stars, I don't know about that. Well at least they realized Cena is better face than heel. Why don't turn Cody heel though"
[8.0] "A great match and closer for sure, but it falls short of a 9 for me for several reasons. I much preferred this match to Cena and Rhodes' Wrestlemania encounter, with it featuring great pacing that certainly helped the match feel shorter than it was. The first couple near falls or so did really add to the tension of the match, but as the match continued onwards it went from feeling like shocking feats of endurance to a sort of cheap "There's no way he's gonna kick out of that THIS TIME! " Overall, the excitement faded for me and by the time it was over I was desensitized to the finisher spam. However, I'd be lying if I said my eyes weren't glued to the screen the entire match, and the two really did put on a classic. ****"
[2.0] "I initially ignored this match after Wrestlemania but gave it a fair chance when I saw the praise from people online. What I ended up watching was a drawn out finisher spam where any semblance of an interesting match was thrown out of the window and replaced with finishers and kick outs. Kick outs should mean something and after this match had cycled through a few of them they were just pointless to me. There was no shock when they happened, no surprise. Just another kick out. And another. And another. For the entire match. I was hoping for at least a bit more variety, more anything really given the experience these men both have in the ring. This may be the last truly big Cena match and it's a shame for me that it ended on this."
[10.0] "Going into summerslam, i was expecting night 1 ME to be a classic match that will be my MOTW and i was expecting night 2 to be at least decent because i knew both Cody and John would want to rectify their wrestlemania match & i have ended up getting the opposite. John Cena v. Cody Rhodes was hands down among the very best wwe matches EVER. Former face of wwe v. current face of wwe. 2 of the greatest babyfaces wwe has ever had going against each other as a face v. face match. Like almost everyone else, i too expected John's sudden babyface turn to be a ruse that was done for the story of the match and playing into Cody's hesitation to do whatever he has to to put John down but as soon as they started the match by hugging each other and straight up going into a fist fight, i realized the turn may have been genuine and thank f'n god it was genuine because this allowed John to tap back into what he has always been known for, and that is big match John. He was still the old man John with his body no longer capable of doing what he could once, but mannn..... it did not matter one bit. He did everything and so much more than his body allowed him to. And as it is in most cases, Cody f'n Rhodes brought the best out of John. It will probably go unnoticed and underappreciated because he allowed this to be the John Cena show. Everything John did Cody sold like a million bucks for him. In theory, this was supposed to be Cody's redemption moment/story but no, they put the main focus on John like their first match would have probably been. It was about John fighting a fight with his much younger, healthier, faster, more athletic, just simply a better wrestler of a successor but him refusing to no pun intended, never give up and keep fighting and Cody sold all of this turmoil and pain of having to inflict all this punishment to his broken down hero. Perfection is rarity in pro-wrestling because there is always something to nitpick but i thought when this was over, i thought it was a perfect match in the sense that even the imperfections like excessive finisher kickouts and not every move or sequence being crisp like a Danielson or a Kenny match, or simply John just being an old man with physical limitations but all of these imperfections added to the match to make it better. The kickouts were necessary simply because this was Big match John, Super Cena v. Cody Rhodes, who has been the most overpowered wrestlers since John Cena. The triple crossroads kickout made me legit jump. Some moves and sequences not looking crisp and sharp gave it a feeling of realism as to where John's body is in 2025. It was charming to see John struggle to lift just the bottom portion of the steel steps, something he has done so easily countless times in his prime. Him breathing heavy while carrying Cody from the ramp to the ring but smiling and powering through anyway and the crowd realizing it and being so behind him. Beautiful stuff. I have seen a lot of people cite these specific imperfections as reasons as a detriment to the match but mann, if anything that was the true beauty of this match. Hands down one of my favorite matches of all-time now. Hats off to John Cena & Cody Rhodes. 10 out of 10. 5 stars. All that!"
[7.0] "This was a good match and many people felt it was more, the crowd was very into it. The 2 fan favorites finally having a match with no interruptions, many kickouts that made people crazy. However, I personally didn't felt much, probably because I'm burned out by what the company and its matches looks like now. Spamming finishers in that type of match is not the worst decision but same as MANY other matches this year, I think it looks lazy and ruins the whole thing. Cena still did really good tho, the part in the crowd and on the stage was nice. So yeah, it was good and I understand many people liked it a lot, but I think it wasn't that special, not a classic or a "banger" at all."
[6.0] "finisher spams are the worst in wrestling, especially in WWE. Definitely a better match than Mania but 5 stars, I don't know about that. Well at least they realized Cena is better face than heel. Why don't turn Cody heel though"
[10.0] "What an incredible match! Many people are arguing against that many finishers, but I think that the high number of them is essential in an encounter between the old and the new figurehead of WWE. In fact, the match was an absolute epic. I especially loved the AA coming from under the stage and the kick-outs after the 3 Cross Rhodes and the super AA. I wish that the 'Mania main event was as good as this one."
[8.0] "I did not appreciate the incredibile number of finishers, too many in my opinion. But in general, there was a sensation of epic. This was the best match of Cena's reign and a good way to end his reign. Very funny, but like I said the spamming of Cross Rhodes and AAs ruined it a little bit. Best part of this was Cena's AA on the stage coming from under it. Spectacular."
[10.0] "One thing for certain, this match was way better than the one they had at mania. Like, miles better. It felt like they were trying to give each other everything they had and it showed. The match was exciting and there was a lot of action that kept me on the edge of my seat."
[8.0] "The match they should've had at Mania. Rhodes and especially Cena went out and gave it everything they had. Seeing this match and the promo on the go-home SmackDown serves to prove just how terrible the heel turn was. There are very few in the history of the business that have the level of fan investment that Cena does, and allow him to utilize how beloved he is at this point in his career to the fullest extent. Cena endangering the coming end of his career and the toll that career has done to him made one promo and one match more interesting than the entirety of his heel run because it felt genuine. You can have your issues with the match. It was a bit long, Cena turning face was out of nowhere and negated the story they were telling t that point, and the finisher spam towards the end was a egregious, but this was about as good a match as I think Cena could have at this point in his career and one that immediately ranks as one of his best. The crowd was invested from the get-go go and Rhodes played his part expertly. A true passing of the torch between yesterday's top babyface and the current one. 4.25 stars."
[10.0] "John Cena vs. Cody Rhodes from SummerSlam Night 2 was a rare 10/10 star match--an emotional, physical, and storytelling masterclass that lived up to its massive expectations. This bout wasn't just a passing-of-the-torch moment; it was a symbolic clash of eras, executed with precision and heart. From the opening bell, the energy was electric. Cena brought his signature big-match presence, while Cody wrestled like a man fighting to cement his legacy."
[3.0] "This entire match was "you do a move, i do a move" in a slow sluggish unenjoyable way, and the best part? all the moves are just each others finishers. Cena just spammed 8 AAs and Cody kicks out of everything. This man got dropped through concrete, two different tables, from the top rope and more. The story of their buildup is much more of a mess, Cena who was a top heel for 5 months, suddenly doesn't want to be heel anymore and flips to babyface like its a switch? and we are supposed to consume it without asking any questions. WWE just cant do a proper Cena heal run and these finisher spammy matches are what have been getting out of every Cena match in this whole run."
[10.0] "This was perfect.. its hard to do these types of matches in a stadium setting but john n cody killed it. they went all out for this probably to make up for their poorly received mania main event and delivered an all-time wwe classic. (*****)"
[5.0] "A false-finish fest that felt more like it was assembled by writers than by the wrestlers themselves. There's some good work here, and I appreciate that they avoided a mindless weapon spotfest, using the furniture more judiciously. Still, it never felt exhausting for anyone involved - they were kicking out of everything and no-selling practically every move. Strong character work and a loud crowd kept it engaging, but this is exactly the kind of the modern product I've grown tired of."
[9.0] "Cena still has it. A vast improvement over their mania match. They weren't into this match with a point to prove. Cody was phenomenal and really sold the heartbreak of putting down a legend. Glad the championship is back on him and am curious what the plans for the both of them are."
[7.0] "There was emotion here no doubt about it. You could feel the history the respect the symbolism. Cody and Cena told a meaningful story in a physical way and the crowd was definitely into it. But for me personally it just did not hit on a deeper level. I respected it more than I felt it. Solid match with purpose but it never fully pulled me in."
[9.0] "This match, compared to the WM match, is night and day. I don't know if it's cause Cena doesn't know how to work heel anymore, or WM got overbooked to hell, but this was an excellent apology. This was the purposeful return of SuperCena, showing unbelievable resilience and the greatest hits. Cody matched that energy perfectly, with both feeling legitimately unbeatable to the point of parody. There was legitimately like 20 finishers in this match, and it just wasn't enough. It was a war between superheroes, and would've been a great sendoff to the Cena character. While it was a great match, what's even better is that Cena got to turn back the clock one last time and right a wrong. Admittedly a little much, but so fun."
[9.0] "Huge effort from both guys. I thought everything up until they returned to the ring after the crowd brawl was excellent, verging on 5*, but it really slowed to a halt once they got back in and it became a tad finisher spammy. Still, I commend both guys putting their bodies on the line and this definitely had that big match feel and for the most part was a lot of fun and engaging. ****1/2"
[7.0] "Sorry but not sorry. This was never in a thousand years a 5 star match. Lol. Actually WWE makes good long-term booking, but here nothing makes sense. It feels like WWE forgot what they did with Cena. So, why the Hell did they turn him again? But let's focus on the match. It was AGAIN another of those typical WWE matches with the inflated use of finishers, both did like 15-20 finishers without selling shit. A body going through a table? They don't care, they just stand up immediately. Just like at the end, both guys show no signs of the harshness they supposedly went through. Further I really developed a distaste to those damned weaboo, Gen-Z crowd chants. Just shut the fuck up and stop ruining any immersion that is left! Everything has to have to do be about them. Despite all this, this was Cena's best match since his return, even though it was too damn long. The passing of the torch was a nice sign at the end, even though turning Cena face again since last Friday Night SD still makes no sense whatsover."
[8.0] "Super Cena meets Super Cody. This is what we should've had at WrestleMania, not that fake a$$ Cena heel run that resulted in that Travis Scott travesty. This time, it felt right, and that legendary Cena entrance with that cut from full black to full colors and the pop it got only proved how right it felt. A big time face versus face clash delivering an over-the-top battle of epic proportion. It's heavy on big moves and spots, even heavier on finishers, but also on an emotional level. The thing is, you get three Attitude Adjustment in 15 minutes (including one on the announce table)... Cut that and i'm fine, but EIGHT Attitude Adjustment and SIX Cross Rhodes ? Damn, that's another kind of overkill mode, and the selling was not on par with it. Yet somehow, I was invested and I let the epic and the story they told surpass reason. That final salute from Cody is a nice touch, and Brock's comeback was as unexpected as necessary for that Cena farewell tour. ****"
[7.0] "Der Face Cena - so schwach der Turn auch war - hat der Match sehr geholfen, denn das war viel besser als bei Wrestlemania. Ich gehe zwar mit der hohen Bewertung hier nicht mit aber man konnte es sich schon sehr gut anschauen. Für meinen Geschmack zu lang mit zu vielen Finishern aber insgesamt schon ein ordentliches Match."
[10.0] "Didn't realize my review got deleted. Anyways, as a lifelong Cena fan since my first pro wrestling match in 2013 (versus CM Punk), and also someone who's admired the work done by Cody Rhodes for the last 3 years, this match was everything. This match was basically WWE saying "Look guys, we did fuck up with the WrestleMania 41 main event, we shouldn't have turned Cena heel and especially shouldn't have involved Travis Scott in the match, so here you go! " Everything about this match - the buildup, the entrances, the in-ring was MILES better than their match in April. I'm of the belief that Cena should've never turned heel in the first place (especially in his final run), and WWE's lack of follow up after Elimination Chamber showed that. The match ruled, it fucking ruled so hard. Cena getting his regular entrance, showing he still got it in-ring wise and properly (and I hope for the final time) passed the baton to the next white meat babyface. Cody was a wonderful dance partner to Cena. Their chemistry was exceptional, and ultimately him winning was the right decision. Definitely one of my matches of the year. Wrestling is cool."
[10.0] "Match of the Weekend, took a match that could of been a run of the mill drop the belt and made it a classic, Cena massively over preformed and honestly made me a fan again wanting more, Great passing of the torch moment!"
[8.0] "Not a fan of gimmick match but It was a good match it was john cena best match in the retirement year till now few things don't like is that two many finisher 8 AA unbelievable and too many spots every 5 minutes they where going for the different spots proper wrestling missing it should have been excellent idea if cena turn face during the match."
[9.0] "Admittedly, this match is gonna hold sentimental value for me that will inflate my rating of this. Because of the fiasco after this match, I probably won't be watching or supporting WWE for a while (other people can feel free to keep watching, it's mainly just my own personal decision). As a result, this kind of feels like a sendoff to this current saga I've had as a wrestling fan over these past few months getting back into the passion. The match itself is highly emotional, with some of the most elite storytelling we've seen in WWE history. Rhodes and Cena pull out all the stops here. Hell, Cody Rhodes even hits a piledriver in a WWE match. Yeah, the ending is kind of weird, and I feel like the Cross Rhodes now has to be one of (in kayfabe, of course) the weakest finishers of all time. Regardless, the emotion and sheer force on both ends had me jumping out of my seat the whole time. If a match can get me that invested, that's a damn good thing."
[8.0] "Das beste Match von Cenas 2025er Run. Auch weil man das Gefühl hatte, das er seinen Ringrost über das Jahr gut abgeklopft hat und beinahe wieder auf altem Niveau kämpft. Das Portfolio an Aktionen passt super zur Stipulation. Es geht durch Tische, durchs Publikum, es gibt obligatorische Gegenstände, ein paar schön inszenierte Momente (darunter die Fahrstuhl-Aktion und die Reminiszenz an Heel-Cena. Alles in allem sehr rund. Kritisieren kann man, dass das Match doch sehr lang war, der Finisher-Overkill frappierend an die weniger guten Orton/Cena Matches erinnerte und das Selling nach den Finishern oft keine Rolle zu spielen scheinte. Irgendwie schien mir auch die Matchstory anfangs nicht ganz klar, aber sei's drum."
[9.0] "One of the greatest matches I ever saw only behind a few matches the spots were amazing even if their was a bit of finisher spam I enjoyed it especially the spot where cena rose of the lift with the smoke that was very cool also the throwing the steel steps was brutal this was overall just an amazing match and a great match to end the title reigns so good job to both competitors"
[10.0] "My favourite match of the whole Summerslam. This was two super heroes fighting each other so all the no selling made perfect sense. Btw it wasn't that they were getting up seconds after the finisher. They did sold that. They just kicked out multiple times. They right the wrong that was the abysmal main event of Wrestlemania this year. Cena was pulling out moves he only used against AJ and KO. It was so nice to see. Passing of the torch moment."
[9.0] "By far the best match of Cena's retirement tour, most definitely a MOTY contender. After the horrendous contest between the two at Wrestlemania, my expectations weren't all that high, these two exceeded everyone's expectations with this match. Great wrestling, brutal spots, unexpected kick outs, and an emotional roller coaster. Kudos to both men, one to remember for years to come. 4.75*"
[9.0] "A hell of a main event here. The match was absolutely awesome. I don't know yet if we witnessed a double turn but I think there were serious hints leading that way. Well they match was near perfect except for the part where Rhodes kicked out of what... 8 AAs ? And one from the second rope ? Anyways a great great great match."
[9.0] "From the start of the match we have a reminder of Cena's heel turn at the elimination chamber. It's cool to see the in-ring level at this level again. Indeed, we don't get bored during this fight. I can criticize, however, the number of finishes. Cena passed the torch. Don't skip after the match because we have the moment of Lesnar's return which gets people talking. But it creates an unexpected moment and the crowd didn't expect it."
[8.0] "(8.5) Liked it less as it went on. I do think the first half is actually legit excellent, with Cena finding himself again and Cody pulling out a bunch of stuff to see if he can beat Cena. The fight to the outside is alright, the kickouts get excessive, and Cody's moral dilemma felt poorly executed. Still a great main event, but had so much more room to go"
[7.0] "Cena & Cody far surpass one of, in my opinion, the worst matches ever. Cena & Cody are both face here, built up to be the supermen. It works really well, and there's certainly a story told. Nearfalls on top of nearfalls, finisher galore, very decent spots, and some nice storytelling. It's a relentless, good, main event bout. Cena, who has consistently been disappointing since March turns back the clock one night to deliver a genuinely compelling, and good performance. His emotions, reactions and selling are great here. Bumping may be an issue, at least on front face bumps but he gets a pass there. My biggest issue here is that the finishers are not only so, so plentiful, but also begin to not feel earned to even be hit. It feels like almost the whole last half after they get back from the crowd is just finished spam. Three AAs, three Cross Rhodes, all kicked out of. It gets pretty tiring. Deathmatch wrestling loves it's nearfalls, but at least a lot of that is with spots, not just finishers. Here, it kinda just felt like a whoever hits the most competition. I think they could have been spread out a bit more throughout the match, or had a more compelling match beforehand. A Cena blade job would have made this match much better. It would make it feel like more of an endurance test, and make that finisher fest feel more earned. However, everything outside of the finishers, and even some of the finishers and nearfalls, are pretty good. The crowd brawling, overall WEE's recent crowd brawling as a whole, feel much better than ever before. The WM 41 Night One main event also had a great crowd brawling section, and honestly that much suffers from a lot of the same this one does. However, this one's better. A battle between two Supermen, and a passing of the torch. Cena's best singles outing in maybe half a decade? [***.25]"
[9.0] "This was the best match out of both nights of Summerslam in my opinion. Cena was much more enjoyable as a face, this match had amazing false finishes, a hot crowd, and a shocking Brock Lesnar return after the match. 4.75/5."
[8.0] "This shit was so much fun. SuperCena finally returned and it was so glorious. Took advantage of the stipulation wonderfully throughout & both guys were busting big bombs and kicking out of everything. Extremely enjoyable big time PPV main event!"
[6.0] "Probably in the minority here, but I thought this was just okay. While it very much made up for the WM disaster and is far and away the best match Cena has had since 2017; an almost 40 minute match was so unnecessary. Cena is almost 50 years old. He doesn't need to be working a match that length, and it felt forced as a way to try and make the match feel "epic". Also I get that we suspend our disbelief when it comes to our enjoyment of wrestling, but the fact that they backtracked on the Cena heel turn just days before and still kept it a street fight is ridiculous. Why are two faces, that have shown respect to one another, now facing off in a match with no rules? Again, it feels like the only reason they did was to improve the quality of the match, rather than make any sense."
[8.0] "This match made up for the disaster at Wrestlemania. It dragged on longer than I would've liked (should've been 20-25 minutes) but with that out of the way, the match was a good opportunity to showcase the battle between two stars from different generations. Now that the torch has officially been passed, it's time to officially reign in the "Era of Rhodes". I liked that Cody had dillemma issues during the match as to if he should've attacked John or not. Those can plant the first seeds towards an eventual heel turn. It made you wonder if a turn would happen or not. Cody winning back the belt here is the right call given John's retiring at end of year, and he truthfully doesn't need the title."
[9.0] "An Intresting match with a show of power by both opponents which made both opponents look strong. I'm happy John cena still has a 5 star match in his bag. Awesome stuff. Kudos to Cody"
[10.0] "I have way too much to say about this match as this has been one of the most sentimental matches I have watched in years. Words do not do this match justice, and all I will say is you NEED to watch this match. Phenomenal piece of business."
[2.0] "Didn't like this one very much, and this isn't even factoring in the guy named in a sex trafficking lawsuit returning at the end. The atmosphere was pretty good for the start of the match but, similar to the main event of the previous night, fell into the trap of going 30+ minutes for no reason. Due to their laziness in cutting their losses and turning Cena face on a random Smackdown the crowd is booing Cody relentlessly and nobody wants to see Cena get his comeuppance which was what the whole story has been building to for the past 4 months! What's even the point of it being a street fight anymore? Why not turn him face after this match? The sequence where they are just continually hitting each other with multiples of their finishers over and over again and kicking out and just doing it over and over again made me want to tear my eyeballs out of my head.The finish was just laughably flat where it's an avalanche something through a table and then a singular Cross Rhodes and that's it. People joke all the time about the increasing threshold of moves required to end matches and they'll say things like "Oh, it'll take hitting Cody with a car to pin him in a couple years! " I don't think people realize that instead we're trending towards flatter and flatter finishes where the level of punishment being taken will just plateau for dozens of minutes in every main event match and we'll just have to believe that that 17th Cross Rhodes is what really eked out the win when the 16th one didn't do it."
[6.0] "I was not a fan of the way this match played out. It was a very long finisher trading match with not much action inbetween. I feel like I've been watching some version of this match in WWE's main event scene for the last 8 years and I'm just tired of it and don't like it."
[6.0] "This match was again okay! I am so happy Cody won the title back! I just am getting nothing from Cenas current run tbh! It is sad as he was a childhood favourite growing up. Just feel he is very sloppy since his return. This match was a lot better than some of the other shit show matches he has recently put on. But this wasn't the best match of the weekend by any shot!"
[10.0] "In some ways I wish this was Cena's last match because there is no way he is topping this match, he went all out for it and Cody was the right opponent to get this out of Cena, they both did well going the distance and showing it with selling, brutality was the right level and it was a nice change to have the street fight rules over what we had at WM41. The finish was pretty well done with Cody having to sorta put Cena out of his misery."
[10.0] "The "passing of the torch" moment for the WWE. Even though Cody has been their top guy for awhile, he needed to prove he could beat the best from the previous generation. As a OG Cena fan, it was sad to watch his presumably last title reign come to an end, but the company could not be in better hands right now. As for the afternatch stuff, Brock coming back legit shocked me. I thought it would never happen. 10/10 match, arguably the best match of either mans' career."
[8.0] "Welp, looks like the comments got removed. I'm writing it down again. Really hope this doesn't happen again. So, here we go: So, Finisher fests and endless kick-outs are usually among my least favorite tropes in modern WWE matches. But in this case, it really worked and played out perfectly with the story of the match. The over-the-top kick-outs and finishers weren't gratuitous; they were integral to the story being told. And that story? It was about Cody Rhodes doing everything in his power to overcome a returning Super Cena. From the very beginning, the match set the tone. Cena's entrance started with his typical darker, black-and-white heel titantron. But then the classic red, white, and blue colors burst onto the screen. Old Cena was back. It was surreal to witness the crowd chanting "Super Cena" unironically, especially during the later parts of the match. And Super Cena was a key element of the match's story. His character resurrection became the emotional centerpiece of the whole bout. Cody Rhodes' constant pin attempts after every single move sold his desperation perfectly. He didn't even do any of his poses or power-ups. He was just so focused and borderline obsessed. These weren't just tactics, they were character beats. They showed that Cody wasn't just trying to win a random match; he was trying to conquer a legend. And he was willing to do anything to do it. And I mean anything. Even a piledriver. That moment, in particular, stood out. After he hit the piledriver, the crowd reacted "You can't do that! " followed by "Yes he can! " It was great. More than just a big win, this felt like a real passing-of-the-torch match. But what actually made this match even better wasn't just the physical story, it was the subtextual story, which I'd argue was the real story of the match. While Cody was booed throughout, it wasn't out of hate. The crowd just loved Cena that much. That was Cody's real obstacle. And that's what made the match work on a deeper level: Cody's challenge wasn't just to beat this dominant version of Cena in "Super Cena", it was to overcome the love fans had for John Cena. That was the main mountain he had to climb. Cena was presented as truly undefeatable again. A status he hadn't held in years. The false finishes weren't there just for drama; they rebuilt his mythical aura. But Cody was also shown to be on that level. He too was kicking out of everything, matching Cena's resilience beat for beat. It didn't just make Cena look like Super Cena again, it made Cody look like he belonged in the same breath, establishing his character too. The passing of the torch began here. And yet, Cody didn't turn heel to get the job done, as many speculated. I'm glad he didn't. He may have used some questionable tactics during the match, but they were necessary to defeat this version of Cena. That, in turn, made Cena look even more powerful. Because Cody had to throw everything at him, and even that almost wasn't enough. So both men were elevated: Cena regained his mythical status, while Cody was portrayed as someone powerful enough to overcome that myth. And it mattered that he beat this particular, most heroic version of Cena. Had he beaten a heel Cena, the win wouldn't have carried the same narrative weight. But this? This was different. He conquered Super Cena. And in doing so, earned the mantle through merit, not manipulation. That shot with Cena holding Cody and rising up from inside the stage, was visually very symbolic. His ascent from darkness into light while carrying Cody represented not only his return to being a babyface but also his role in elevating Cody in the process. The moment Cena handed Cody the title, the crowd responded with respect to Cody rather than the resentment they showed him during the match. That was the perfect capstone. It validated Cody as the guy, because he beat the unbeatable. Ultimately, this wasn't just a great match, it was a storytelling triumph. Super Cena became a living metaphor for everything Cody had to overcome. And in defeating him, Cody didn't just win a belt, he won legitimacy. I'm so glad they didn't tarnish it with cinematic or overproduced bullshit like they usually do. They crossed every boundary of traditional structure. False finishes, last-second kick-outs over and over from every move, going for 40-minute long. But instead of falling apart, it all helped. And it created a truly legitimate torch-passing moment. I'll need a few rewatches to really settle on a final score, but for now, it's a solid 9/10. Maybe it'll go up to a 10, or possibly drop to an 8 after a rewatch. I'm not sure yet. But one thing's certain: it's absolutely worth watching."
[10.0] "***** (10/10) And so... here we go, again! No Travis Scott this time (thank you Wrestling Gods). Cena was Cena, so this was real, But Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury: not only was Cena/Rhodes II the best match of SummerSlam 2025, not only was it maybe the best SummerSlam match of all time, not only was it possibly the best match of 2025, but it may have been the best match in WWE history. Psychology? check. Storytelling? Double-Check. Status? Legends never die. and the main-event of SummerSlam 2025 was perfection in the perfect sense of the idea. It was like they knew they s**t the bed at Mania 41 and set out to make it up by having the GOAT of GOAT matches, and happen to accomplish just that, and if you do not believe me, just watch it for yourself."
[8.0] "I understand the aggravation inherent when one considered the poorly handled nature of the destruction of this heel gimmick, but I was pretty dang tired of it & if this is the kind of match we get out of it then I mean fuck it, I'm fine with that. Cena came out of the gate hot & just the way he handled himself here, you could tell he was really enjoying himself. When you can tell a worker is really enjoying things it's so much easier to get immersed, too. What luck, a WWE street fight with tons of crazy weapons spots in it. I can't say I'm a huge fan of the way the Cross Rhodes was handled here, but that aside, this was a gnarly, physical bout & it was very refreshing after all that awful heel stuff. Two Summerslam days where the main event duly outshines everything else."
[9.0] "The best match John Cena has had since coming back. This makes up for the mess at Wrestlemania and I think it's the right call for Cena to drop the belt. The only complaint I have is them both kicking out of a ton of finishers. I do see why though as it is super Cena vs the modern day version. I also liked Brock Lesnar coming out at the end and curious to see where this all goes."
[10.0] "honestly I loved this match. My hope was that Cody wouldnt turn and he won the crowd back. He has the uncanny ability to win a crowd back. Beautiful work by Cena, the Farmers carry at his age was super impressive. No run ins. Perfect."
[10.0] "Man, super Cody vs super Cena was great. Every single part of this match was better then there wrestlemaina match and honestly is a contender for match of the year. It is that good. Cena turning back the clock, Cody hitting a pile driver, the great bit of Cena coming from the stage. The moments on this match are just grand and honestly if these were any other wrestlers, I don't know if I would score it this high. However, the heat from the crowd, the moments Built, the crazy kick outs can only be done by two men. Fantastic."
[5.0] "Eigentlich ein so gutes Match aber über 10 Finisher Kickouts ..... euer ernst. Habe auch diesen plötzlichen Cena Faceturn nicht so verstanden, cody als Sieger finde ich aber gut und hat mich etwas überrascht. Aber ein Lesnar vs Cena um den Titel wäre auch nochmal geil gewesen."
"I was hoping Cena and Cody would be motivated to put on a great match after their disappointing encounter at mania, and they certainly delivered. The build was honestly very strange here, and the context of Cena's sudden face turn honestly makes this match worse. However, looking at it in a vaccum, they both put in a hell of a shift. It was definitely a WWE main event, with a lot of excess. However, if there's a match that deserves that kind of excess, it's this one. And honestly it probably needed it to make Cena look as good as possible. And it definitely worked. Cena's matches have been slowly improving this year as he's gotten more reps, but this was by far the best he's looked, and I don't know if it'll get better than this this year for Cena. Great and fun match, ***3/4"
[7.0] "Unterhaltsames Mainevent zwischen Superman vs Superman. Komplett richtig Cody so gewinnen zu lassen. Für Cena '25 war dass das mit Abstand beste Match, da dieses seine schwächen einfach am meisten kaschiert. Am Ende ist es ein Finisher- und Spotfest. Am Ende ist es komplett übertrieben aus wie vielen Finisher ausgekickt wird. Bester Moment war für mich wie Cena Cody auf den Schultern trägt mit dem Aufstieg der Rampe; das sah wirklich dope aus. Am Ende zu viele Finisher aber dennoch solide. (***3/4)"
[5.0] "This match was definitely interesting but I just have so many questions. I know why they turned Cena face this entire run has been one big miscalculation. But I'm sorry, could you imagine one of your best friends attempts to beat you up for a few months siding with one of your biggest enemies and then you guys are buddy buddy again in a day? Why did the guy who wanted to ruin wrestling want to give people a good match? It just clouded my judgement beyond belief. The match was good I suppose and the elevator spot was something I got a good laugh out of but the entire match just felt like them trying to pull the plug on cenas heel run ASAP. You can think what you want about the ending I just found it cringe inducing. Why do you bring him back? He had the perfect send off putting Cody over but now you gotta bring him back and stir up a ton of controversy for zero reason. I've been getting more and more turned off from the company as of recent."
[8.0] "For Cena in 2025, this is a very respectable match, as it gets down to business in a decent way. The story is partly violent, partly routine, and is quite convincing. The result was perhaps somewhat predictable, but the aftermath certainly was not. Nevertheless, I consider the main match of the first night to be a little better. But this is also a good match."
[3.0] "I genuinely don't get the hype around this match, it makes me question if I like classic, showy WWE style matches at all in the first place. I feel like it was a bit slow and the Cena face turn promo being played straight was also a total hype killer for me. Either that should have been a ruse or Cody shoulda turned heel to win, I feel like I had an extremely hard time buying this story as face vs face because the entire build to it for months was changed up 2 days before, and the match itself was so long and so self-indulgent and the street fight stip had like 1 or 2 creative spots in like 40 minutes that's egregious."
[10.0] "The best match cena has had in many many years. It is levels above there wrestlemania match. The one gripe I have is imagine if a story was told in THIS match that had Cena turn face in this match instead of a random face turn in a smackdown promo. If the story was Cena realizing in this match who he was resulting in him being a full on face at the end of this match. Just so many memories in this match with super cena being fully back with kicking out of super finishes from Cody with the three cross Rhodes which we all know is always the finish. Cena and Cody coming up through the stage that Cody makes his entrance was a super cool moment and delivering the AA on the ramp. I did expect a Cody turn which I may just be a mark for thinking that but I think the exact way they did this match is exactly what should have happened. Nearly perfect the only reason it isn't a 5 is because I wish the face turn happened in this match. Also the salute from Cody at the end was incredible to me and very fitting. Emotional as hell to. (****3/4)"
[9.0] "The first good match I've seen with John Cena this year. Great use of the stipulation, epic moments. The downside, in my opinion, was a bit overbooked with the false finishes. Despite that, I liked it."
[8.0] "This was a Finisher Fest match and very John Cena and Cody Rhodes theme match where they kick out of everything. It was awesome, this is what we should have got at WrestleMania this year and they wasted his 5 months doing that stupid heel run with clueless booking. Glad they turned him face again."
[9.0] "Cenas best Match over a Decade. I was expecting shenanigans in this match. But this was just an old scool wrestling match. With no involvements at all. In my opinion they overkilled a lil bit too much with the Amount of finisher Kickouts. But overall this match was still absolutely fantastic. And its a shame that we could'nt get a Match like this at Wrestlemania."
[5.0] "Overindulgent and utterly soulless grudge match lacking any real sense of hatred or violence - just two guys plodding through their move sets ad infinitum with cartoonish selling and a lot of offense clearly not connecting. They were already hitting finishers inside the opening 10 minutes of a match that went nearly 40 and it never felt like the stakes were raised between the early use of the stairs and announce desk to the sort-of-conclusive table spots **1/4"
[9.0] "Damn, that was great. I can't expect that both shows a high level of wrestling together. Piledriver, pop-up powerbomb, Code red, interaction with a rope, many other extreme moment. Glad to see that they wrestled not only ring side and way how they returned to stage was really cinema. That was so many AA and Cross Rhodes that I can't feel when match ends. But Rhodes won after cutter on table and CR. Normal finish, but I'm expected more, like heel turn or something other very cool. And this happened after match, that's why I'm satisfied of result. Face Cena can wrestle and I loved to see that Cena. Very great main event, much better than was at Mania."
[5.0] "I like the way this match was drawn up. Even if, like me, you're not into the WWE main event style with lots and lots of spamming finishers, this is the kind of match that called for it. I'm just disappointed that neither guy looked particularly sharp along the way. Cena, in particular, can't sell a cross rhodes, so we book the match for him to take 5 of them (poorly)?"
[5.0] "Ah, I dunno. I can see why a lot of people loved this, so fair enough. It did feel like a big match, the crowd was into it, they had some nice moments. Cena carrying Cody up through the Cody-vator was a great bit, if not a little cheesy. But... overall I just didn't connect with this very much. It was much, MUCH too long by at least 15 minutes, it badly needed editing. The kickouts were just ridiculous after a certain point, props to them for getting the crowd to bite but for me it was just too much. And the whole story of the match, with Cena's arbitrary face turn after the failed heel run, the bizarre dynamic of the match, it gave it a weird flavor to me, and that's before the extremely disappointing post match surprise. Well, it had it's moments, glad they at least were able to have a better one than Wrestlemania and no random celebrities appeared to screw things up."
[7.0] "The best Cena match and his best individual performance in YEARS. Cena lauching the steel steps on Cody was a great spot but they didn't make anything out of it, Cody was back on offense literally 10 seconds later. I hate finisher fests so I can't go higher than 7/10 but I can't deny the fact that it was a good match the crowd was going nuts and both guys did a great job"
[8.0] "I was sold in this match, fucking what they should've done at Mania for sure, but since what I've been getting from WWE matches this year I felt underwhelmed still by the wrestling side on this match, because of that I can't say this is the best match of this year just because it's Cena and Cody, the whole heel Cena thing was a mistake since Cena still has some left in the tank and this match proves it."
[10.0] "It's a shame that this wasn't what we got at mania. The storytelling in this match was great making it such an emotional match especially with the end with Cody saluting Cena before hitting the crossroads. They really went all out in this match and my favorite spot was when Cena came from under the stage and hitting Cody with an aa. The two big kickouts were a bit too much but I'm not as mad as I would be because it mostly fit the narrative. 4.75/5"
[7.0] "It was definitely way way better than the Wrestlemania match, this is peak WWE textbook main event top guy vs top guy, Super Cena vs Super Cody, this match delivered on what it supposed to be and of course gonna appeal to the casual fans, but from match quality standpoint this ain't no match of the year not even in WWE, considering the matches that WWE had this year so far, calling it MOTY is an exaggeration, but this is as good as you can get from todays Cena, towards the end it's just them kicking into superman mode, kicking out from triple crossrhodes and triple AA is something else man lol."
[7.0] "I thought as good an example of a classic modern day "epic" wwe main event as you're going to get. I quite enjoyed it for what it's worth. Match never slowed down, and I felt it had a logical progression to it and good use of elevators, stairs, turnbuckles and other wrestlng paraphenalia. They all have faint echoes of Micheals Undertaker 1, of course, but the endless kickouts worked for me, even though boy oh boy do I wish we could see some better selling, in wrestling genreally, to really underline the pain that these two competitors are supposed to be enduring. That's never been one of Cena's strong points to be fair. But all in all I had a good time."
[8.0] "They had some really good planned spots. This is what happens when you plan a match (I'm looking at you CM Punk) instead of calling it in the ring. You could tell by the reaction at the ending that they did one too many kickouts. It wasn't great but at least it was interesting. I want to give this a 7 because of how "unreal" Cena is in and out of the ring. He is just so fake. I wonder if he is ever natural at all or it he's fake 24/7."
[9.0] "This match definitely deserves a higher rating, considering both men are in their 40s and the other is on the verge of retirement. They gave us a match that was too extreme for their age. I didn't expect anything from this match after the main event of WrestleMania. I didn't even care if it was a street fight because I thought it would be slow and boring. It was quite the opposite; this match is perhaps one of the best of both men's careers. Very original spots, lots of storytelling in the ring, nah.... incredible, definitely deserves a better rating. It almost gets a 10, but considering their horrible match and not to mention the tag team at Money in the Bank, I think it takes points away from it."
[9.0] "[4, 75 Stars] Disappointed not to have had this match at Wrestlemania but at least WWE made up for it after 4 horrible months of Cena. Yes, it's not extraordinary in the ring but I can't explain it, that's wrestling too. (****, 75)."
[9.0] "Really great street fight that pulled out all the stops. From the moment they'd finished hugging it was on, and we got a highlight reel of Cena at his best, pulling out some of his iconic offence from over the years. Without a doubt the best Cena has looked throughout this retirement tour, and probably his best match since Royal Rumble 2017. Also got to see Cody look dangerous, which is always entertaining."
[9.0] "Best match Cena has wrestled in years and he picked a great time for it. Could they have cut 5-10 minutes? Could they have spammed fewer finishers and near falls? Yeah, probably. But this was Cena's final title defense and he went out with a bang. Extremely fun to watch and I enjoyed every minute of it. Thank you Cena!"
[5.0] "Original comment deleted so I'm keeping my response short. Was it the best match Cena had with his title run? Yes. Was it ruined because kicking out after receiving 8 finishers is ridiculous? Also yes. Seriously, 8 AAs and Cody still kicks out. It's supposed to be a finisher, as in finish the match."
[10.0] "That was clearly Super Cena vs Cody Rhodes! What a main event! Cena gave it all! Tough contender for Greatest Match of All Time. 4 months more to live his presence. #ThankYouSuperCena"
[5.0] "As much as i can understand the praise and good ratings this match gets, for me the match was too long, and the amount of false finished was over the tope, I love Cody but kicking out of like 8 AA with one from the top rope, it's too much for me, though their match was definitly better that their mania one."
[4.0] "What a shame... It started off well, with some good spots and a good pace, but then the match dragged on and on, and there was that damn problem with spamming finishers again. Fifteen years ago, to beat Batista or Shawn Michaels, you needed 1 or 2 AA's, but now you need at least 5. What the hell is that? What's going through the minds of the writers and Rhodes and Cena? Seriously, the writing is terrible. A disappointing end to his career, a far cry from the legendary level we were used to from 2005 to 2017."
[9.0] "Sehr Starkes Match! Ich fand es sehr unterhaltsam und ich finde es hatte den richtigen Sieger. Natürlich haben sie wieder zu viele Finisher gezeigt, aber es hat einfach meiner Meinung einfach gepasst. Cena hat gezeigt das gute Matches noch in ihm stecken."
[10.0] "Oh my god this match was amazing. Sooooooooooo much better than the WrestleMania match. Also, thank god this match (and Punk vs Gunther the night before) was clean all the way through. Super Cena vs Super Cody and by god did it deliver. the 47000 finisher kickouts worked for me because it's 2 dudes who are known to be tough to put down and this is just 2 of the best going ham."
[9.0] "Superb. John Cena's best match in forever as we did in fact get the return of the babyface we've known (for better or worse) for the last 20 years or so. Cena has never been the smoothest in there but he can structure a match and tell a story, and Cody is really damn good, too. They had me multiple times, on the triple Cross-Rhodes, the triple AA, and the avalanche all before the finish. After seeing the kickouts we did the finish felt a tiny bit flat. The cutter through the table didn't look the best and ultimately it was one final Cross-Rhodes that got the win. A superb match, no nonsense just a classic Cena main event."
[3.0] "Oh boy did this just go on and on and on and it was just spots for no reason. No pacing, nothing was built towards just stuff happened cause it needed stuff happening. Some cool moments I guess but you need more than that to be interesting. Barely any selling, it did not look like they had been through a war by the end. Cut 20 minutes from this and nothing changes. Just so lackluster and uninteresting to watch."
[9.0] "Old man Cena doing all his high spot moves is so fucking awesome man. His performance here is genuinely amazing. Super fun match that actually got a legit finish. One of my favorite matches of the year. Unfortunately what happens after the match does overshadow all of this, and not in a good way. So I can't go the full 10."
[9.0] "A masterclass in storytelling and in-ring psychology, this match not only redeemed their disappointing WrestleMania encounter but also served as a poignant passing of the torch from one era to the next. A WWE Championship match for the ages--one that honored the past while cementing Cody as the future. Not quite a five-star classic, but damn close."
[9.0] "Great match for the WWE Championship. Cena and Cody both know that was a disaster, and with their second chance they delivered what the WrestleMania main event should have been. Cena having just turned back babyface looked like he was in his prime again. It makes his heel run all the more baffling because he was purposely having bad matches when he still could have put in the effort to make them good. They beat the hell out of each other for a long time. The best moment of the match was Cena carrying Cody on his shoulders as they were on the elevator on the stage. That looked amazing. They got a little too ridiculous with the kickouts near the end. They mildly teased Cody turning heel as he was putting Cena away in the last minutes, but thankfully it didn't happen. Cody saluted Cena, hit a final Cross Rhodes and got the pin to become the new champion. After the match, they respectfully shook hands and hugged. Really nice passing of the torch moment. 9/10"
[8.0] "This was a markable improvement over Cody and Cena's Wrestlemania match. The two felt more free to let loose and have the kind of match they wanted without having to work around celebrity involvement or run-ins, and it gave us a very good performance that showed Cena's ability to still put on a great match and the kind of great in-match storytelling Cody has made a career out of. Overall, a great main event."
[10.0] "Sports entertainment perfection, I can't believe how John Cena wrestled 37 minutes here with the match he did. Starts with brawling John using the steps, crutch, tables and chairs was amazing, them going under the stage was also fantastic as well and then the near falls Oh my God they hit each other back to back with their finishers, I don't mind it cause John is gonna be gone soon, so protecting his finisher is dumb anyway. But I loved it through one of the best matches of Summerslam of all time. I loved it, and I can't believe I did it was perfect for what it was; they couldn't have done anything else here, I mean it."
[8.0] "Well this was certainly something fun, it was 100 times better than the shit they served up at maina and was enjoyable in an almost ironic way with how over the top it was and filled with Hype and Aura moments TM, so you just need to switch off your brain and enjoy it. But i have to say it was nice to see Cena have a good match in his final run as they others have all been complete dross. The lack of different types of weapons and blood in a street fight hurt it a bit. The amount of finisher in this match definitely jumped the shark i counted like 15 throughout the match and Cody still won the belt clean which was a bit odd he should of turned heel finally to be honest. Overall a good match that was great in the moment but i don't feel it needed to be 37 minutes with so many kickouts. (****1/4)"
[3.0] "John Cena donne certes de sa personne, mais ce match est beaucoup trop long, le AA et le Cross Rhodes ne sont pas du tout respecté et je ne vois aucun intérêt dans ce duel de superman... Et que dire du retour de Brock Lesnar qui est une véritable honte..."
[10.0] "This was a classic Cena match and one of the very best of his career. Amazing to see him go like this for 37 mins at his age. Spectacle to watch."
[10.0] "This was John Cena's best match since the 2017 Royal Rumble match he had AJ Styles for the WWE Championship. This was a SummerSlam Classic. I loved the fact that John Cena was moving at a fast pace and was back being a babyface. I want to forget about the heel turn entirely, as that was one of the worst creative decisions in recent memory. Cody Rhodes was giving in to the heel side of things, and I thought the heel turn was going to happen, but it didn't. You can tell John Cena was enjoying this and loving the fact of being a babyface again. Cody Rhodes is now a 2x WWE World Champion and is on top of the world. John Cena, to a loud reception, was soaking in the crowd's praise as the show closed. An amazing Main Event and touching moment as John Cena is embraced and loved by the people who now respect him in the Wrestling Universe."
[1.0] "I have a huge problem with the Street Fights that the WWE produces in general, and this was no exception. I never got into the match, I found it slow, poorly paced, badly organized, poorly constructed, it was a weird atmosphere. Already, when we talk about Street Fight we have to see really brutal stuff that gives us that street feeling and where we tell ourselves that one wants to kill the other. For me, this wasn't the case and it's a shame, because once again it's only in WWE that I feel this way with every match with this stipulation. I also find that there's no chemistry between Cody Rhodes and John Cena and I hope they never offer us a match 3 because they're a total bore when they wrestle each other."
[8.0] "[4.0*] An amazing match and ever better spectacle. This is one of the few matches where I loved it more than my rating suggests, but I'll start with the reason why I'm not giving this a 4.25*/9. Well, it's quite simple. This match was labeled as a Street Fight. It was not a Street Fight at all. It was an unbelievably fantastic No DQ match with great planned spots and OMG Moments, but it didn't feel like a dirty, gnarly street fight for a single second. It was super clean, even in the part where they went to the crowd. I don't know why this match didn't have blood, Cena's one of the greatest blade-jobbers ever and Cody loves bleeding too, it was a missed opportunity. Anyways, I really liked how they played into the whole Superman vs Superman thing. 8 AA's and 6 Cross-Rhodes, usually I'd be very upset. But this time? If it was going to happen in ONE match ever, Cena vs Cody would be the one. It made perfect sense and wasn't overbooked at all. The match clearly was divided in acts and all of them were super well produced, with the help of Cody and Cena themselves who had perfect performances. Seriously, they were brilliant individually. At the ending they went to the classic "cinema" scene with Cody and although I find these things corny, the execution was great. Overall it was a pretty damn success Main Event and an awesome wrestling match that just wasn't built like a stiff heated street brawl."
[4.0] "It was a good farce, a very good farce, something that reminded me of the match between Lesnar and Reigns on SummerSlam. On any other day of the week, I would rate this match at 9, even though I mostly prefer slightly different fights, where there is some kind of psychology, where they want to tell me a story, and not just show a lot of bright, funny and far-fetched moments with overdramatic moments at the end, which, ironically, make the match more boring and even flatter. However, I just can't put aside the fact that Cena and Rhodes just took and forgot everything that happened. Cena faces again after one segment, thanks Triple H. I was one of those who was disappointed with John's "little heel turn, " but I hoped they would have the courage to follow through with the idea, as it turned out they didn't have the courage, so this match was completely empty anyway, because the whole story between them was thrown in the trash, nothing else makes sense. Why shouldn't I give a damn about these two as long as they're just having fun in the ring. I don't like everything that surrounds them, and I can't evaluate this match just in a vacuum and say it was good, forgetting what they did before. Brock's appearance afterwards is cool as an unexpected, I mean REALLY UNEXPECTED comeback, but at the same time I'm disappointed. I thought John would try to become a Grand Slam champion, compete with young blood, we also have Styles there, by the way, if you haven't forgotten, but no, it's Lesnar again."
[7.0] "Definitiv besser als ihr Match bei WrestleMania. Aber alles in allem sehr viel von allem. Ich verstehe aber, dass man Cena nochmal einen ordentlichen Knaller abliefern lassen wollte. Aber man erkennt, wie er selbst zugegeben hat, dass sein Körper nicht mehr so kann wie früher. Was man aber bemängeln muss, ist der "Turn" von Cena zum Face. Die ganze Story war zum scheitern verurteilt, wenn man einfach kein Erklärung bekommt wieso ein The Rock mit drin steckt usw. Kann man das alles Cena anlasten? Nein. Das muss vom Writing Team kommen und mit diesem Aspekt, hat Cena einen besseren Abgang verdient. Auch die Rückkehr von Lesnar fand ich alles in allem nicht so toll."
[4.0] "I'm using a translation function, so it might be hard to understand. Cena threw away the great character he'd built up during his heel turn and, as he'd declared, fought as the babyface he once was (what? ). The match was long and boring, with just punches and set spots. The scene where the two men came storming out from under the stage was incredibly lame and a joke (speaking of jokes, Cody's entrance mask was also terrible). I'm sick of how PLE main events have been dragged out to make matches last longer by needlessly padding things out in recent years. The match was so lackluster that I wasn't excited about Lesnar's surprise appearance after the match.I love WrestleMania matches, but this one was so boring I nearly fell asleep multiple times. It was a waste of time."
[10.0] "Absolutely love this match, just a clean bout between two of the biggest babyfaces in the past few decades. Yes it was a finisher fest but I thought it actually worked really well here. Cody and Cena both looked like superman and it was kinda cool. Cena returning to a babyface was definitely the right move even if it was random. Cody played his part really well, showing that he would go as far as he needs to go without turning heel."
[10.0] "I knew they had it in them! What a match! And sure, many fans might hate it for the finisher spamming and lockouts, but you can't deny the crowd was extremely into it. The emotion was very palpable to, as well as the suspense since we didn't know if Cody would turn heel throughout. What I'm most happy about however is that we got a face vs face match with 0 outside interference, the way it should've been at mania. Only complaint is that there was no blood."
[10.0] "This match was absolutely, utterly phenomal. It started with the finishers already so I was scared they could make a sprint but hell was I wrong, they went 40 minutes doing the kick-outs of their lifetime delivering what -to me- 'll be remembered as the last real big match of John Cena. In all honestly, the crazy kick-outs is what elevated this bout and the "this is cinema" feeling felt as big as ever. WWE MOTY. *****1/2(5, 5*/11 out of ten)"
[8.0] "An apology letter to whatever that was at WrestleMania, this match was fantastic! It corrected the route by turning John babyface once again, and dear lord where was that Cena on the previous six months? He looked fantastic here, a vintage Cena performing straight from 2015/16... the first part looked like those big matches from that time, it was very fluid and with incredible moves, I loved Cena doing the top rope leg drop and the sunset flip once again, he knew how to fire up the place and it was a hoot. I was really enjoying the dynamism of the match, but missing a more violent direction, after all, it's a street fight, but they've addressed that with that long brawl on the outside, the brutality part of the match. It wasn't a nasty brawl with blood like I wanted, but worked out well too, and Cena coming up from the Codyvator with Cody on his shoulders was a great moment. A lot of possibilities about that finish... we could've had The Rock or even Travis Scott, many speculated a Cody heel turn, or even Cena faking his face turn to stay the villain, but it ended clean, a straight up wrestling match between the two biggest babyfaces of the last 30-years in the WWE, and despite me not being a huge fan of the finisher battles, there's time and place, and I had a blast watching that 'Goku vs Superman' finish, if anyone can do it it's them, they were kicking out of everything and it was thrilling as hell - {****}"
[10.0] "Insanely fun main event. One of Cena's best matches, let alone this year. Glad they turned him face before the show, created a much more favorable dynamic than the match at WrestleMania. Have to give both men credit that they were able to get the reaction they did following so many other gimmick matches earlier in the night."
[10.0] "I will straight up say that this match might actually be a 9, but being there in person boosts it up that one point. I saw it online and agree that I think this is the match they wanted to have at WrestleMania. The atmosphere there showed the changing of the tides from heel Cena to babyface Cena that had the new face of the company getting booed. The match itself was very good and kickout after kickout was great. I felt like the street fight stipulation was not used as much as I had expected, but it allowed for some cool spots. This is easily the best match Cena has had in a long time and easily the best of the retirement tour. Great passing of the torch match."
[9.0] "A shockingly good main event here. While Cena retconning his entire heel run is something that should be ridiculed in wrestling history, it allowed him to wrestle in the role he's far more comfortable in and made this big time stadium match far better. The most fun WWE match I've seen in years. ****1/2"
[8.0] "This was 10x better than their trash Wrestlemania match. Didn't expect for it to last 37 minutes. It was kick out after kick out after kick out after kick out. Was this perfect? No. However, it was still a good match"
[10.0] "Yes it did went too long, had a bit too many kickouts and there weren't any heel turn from Cody or Cena revealing his babyface turn the SmackDown before being a ruse the whole time, but this was literally everything that their WWE WrestleMania 41 (2025) main event should've exactly been. Such a spectacular brawl between both men with really incredible action and spots throughout, they had actually brilliant babyface vs babyface psychology between each other and the crowd, vibes and emotions were all through the roof with the old John Cena being truly back, Cody trying to finally gain back the WWE World Title and post match with the passing of the torch moment from Cena to Cody was just the cherry on top."
[9.0] "A very, very good match. I wasn't expecting such a high-quality match. I was pleasantly surprised, a pure delight. However, I regret the excessive over-the-top hype at times (the AA from the rising platform). Other than that, I loved it; a manageable match despite the length."
[8.0] "Von meinem Gefühl her war das eines der besten John Cena Matches alles Zeiten! Er sah einfach mal 20 Jahre jünger aus. Es gab mehr als eine Hand voll krasser und toller Momente. Also warum nur 8 Punkte bei soviel Weltklasse Aspekten? Es war zu lang, es wurden Finisher gespamt, es fehlte das finale Gefühl. 8 AAs und genau so viele Cross roads? Das ist es nicht"
[10.0] "Desperation, proper intent, energetic, explosive, acceptance, proper character growth. It definitely got self indulgent at times, more specifically after the kickouts from the triple cross rhodes and aa's respectfully. But considering the stakes, I can't be too picky about that. An ambitious match in both men's career, the best John has looked in his retirement run. This should have been how it was from the start. I understand him wanting to try something different since he is retiring when he finally turned heel, it just didn't work or resonate at all. I wish I could be more hopeful for what's to come after this but unless you're living under a rock, we all saw what happened after Cena officially passed the torch to Cody after they embraced after the match. A damn shame tbh. But that doesn't takeaway the magic these two created in and outside the ring last night. Both men were determined to make it up to the fans after what happened at mania, I'd say they did just that. Incredible, incredible match. A spirited performance from Cena I will never forget in my wrestling fandom. It was only fitting that Cody was the one who was able to get this out of John. One of my current favs and one of my all time favs just duking it out throwing haymakers at one another until the other ran out of answers and had to accept their fate. A stadium epic and then some. Thank you John"
[7.0] "Honestly, I felt this one was weird. It was entertaining and probably Cena's best match since returning. But... it was obvious that the intention was to make John feel like super Cena again. Endlessly spammed finished from both, some fairly slow and pondering segments mixed in. I didn't hate this, but I'm not seeing the match everyone else seems to be seeing. The finish in particular fell flat because the (admittedly poor) crowd didn't know how to react. I enjoyed this but I didn't love it."
[9.0] "The wrestling itself wasn't a technical classic, but it was never supposed to be. This was the kind of match that Cena and Cody do best - lots of finishers and build-ups to big moments. It's a very difficult style to create something truly terrific, but they pulled it off here. ****1/2, close to ****3/4"
[5.0] "Easily John Cena's best singles match since his return yet I feel insulted by the whole thing. The fact that Cena has turned face in the build for this at what feels like the flip of a switch and then im expected to embrace him is rancid in my opinion. In a vacuum his match works because Cena is a pure babyface but I can't not see the man that wasted the last 4 months of WWE programming half assing a heel turn only to pull the plug because WWE promised what they couldn't deliver. This bled over to Cody Rhodes who was booed relentlessly and prematurely for a swerve that didn't happen. Again the match was fine but the story telling is rotten to the core so no matter how much the match is watchable, it makes no sense. Cena finally wrestles with some intensity that has been lacking in this run and Cody meets him half way and they deliver a decent NoDq match. The match itself is not without its faults from a ring work perspective either. Cena still has the worst STF in the game and him and Cody had one of the worst strike exchange I've seen in a while. I also was not a fan of the finisher spam in this match, I don't mind kicking out of big moves but when the diversity of big moves is this limited every kick out is an eye roller and every finisher looks weak. Such a conflicting match that if you showed it to me with no context I'd like a lot more but there is a lot of lore to this that sours the whole experience and almost soured the whole show for me"
[2.0] "This is the type of match you have when you're washed. I respect the bumps that John took but honestly it was a joke of a match. Complete finisher spam which meant i had almost zero investment in the action. I think Cena did 8 AA's! ? 8! ? It's absolutely ridiculous and completely devalues your finisher. Just lazy as well, like i can't be bothered to plan this match and do other moves so I'll just keep hitting my finisher. I don't know why Cody agreed to this either. Also the whole weirdness with Cena just randomly turning face the smackdown before, and then we just had a face vs face street fight - i think there were better ways to course correct."
[10.0] "To say I had 0 expectations for this match going into SummerSlam would be an understatement. I did not watch the WrestleMania match and hearing the reviews of it did not make me want to watch that match lol. Having said that, these two DELIVERED probably the best match Cena fans will get from him on what is left of his retirement tour. Cody and Cena went all out, and as the old saying goes, "Left it all in the ring." Likely WWE's MOTY IMO"
[7.0] "The first 75% of this match felt like an apology for Cena's heel run, and it was just a fun weapon brawl that had some vibes of mid-10s Cena. Cena having Cody loaded up for the AA in the Codyvator was awesome, but the match peaked there (outside of the Cena/Umaga reference with the ring ropes). After that they have what I think might be the worst sequence of nearfalls I've seen in a LONG time followed by a really lame, deflating finish. Finishers don't need to be 100% protected but both guys kicking out a triple was just stupid, and then Cody gets Cena with just one more because he saluted him. Combine that with the match going nearly 38 fucking minutes (because longer matches = epics, one of my least favorite booking practices) and it really deflated me after a fun start. ***1/4"
[9.0] "Excellent match from both participants, Super Cody vs Super Cena was great, the ending with Cena passing the torch to Cody was great. It was a bit of finisher spam but for it made me at the edge of the seat everytime, Cody winning and staying babyface was also the right choice because its the best for WWE for now."
[9.0] "Exactly what it needed to be and more, this match ruled. Cena immediately showed how stupid it was to make him a heel for this run by having the most entertaining match he's had in years. Cody had some great heelish teases and received a good amount of boos throughout the match. I was personally hoping for a Cena retention but I can't be mad at Cody winning it back. Fuck that Brock Lesnar return though, that was absolutely disgusting and shameful."
[10.0] "John Cena is 48 years old. He wrestled like he was 28 on this night. This match was the definition of "vintage Cena"! Having watched Cena for over 20 years, I'm shocked at what he pulled off in this match. Everything he has ever been physically capable of pulling off in one match, he did it. What an awesome performance! Honestly, this should have been his retirement match. There's no shot in hell John Cena can top this."
[10.0] "This match was awesome! It was everything wrestle mania needed to be which sadly I was at. They really went for it. It ended up being Super Cena vs Super Cody. A few times I for sure thought it was over but no they kept going. That was definitely fun and no were back to all is right with the world. Cena is back and can have his farewell tour and Cody is champ again"
[2.0] "Just a bad executed match, and while Cena looked better than previous frewell tour matches, Cody did not look good (ther wasn't one single cross-rhodes that hit right). They completely lost me with that elevator spot that was awkwardly slow. They hit like 10 finishers each, so I expected something really incredible, at least from a violence standpoint, to finish the match. Instead we got a completely anticlimatic finish. That canadain destroyer on the outside looked good though. So dull for a SummerSlam main event."
[10.0] "My MOTY! Unbelievable performance from John Cena. Cody like always willing to do anything for the love of the game. He was ex exceptional, in not only bumping and selling like a mad man for Cena's offense but managed to convey his inner conflict beautifully. I would usually have an issue with so many finisher kickouts but it completely worked for this instance because they sold this match as this version of Cody Rhodes vs The best version of John Cena. Would i have preferred bloody brutal spots from both guys instead of finisher kickouts, yes. But, if they weren't going to do that, this was THE way to go to take it to another level and they did. Super Cena vs basically Super Cody looks exactly this. Once again, major props to John for bringing it for this match. He wrestled this match like his job was on the line or it was his last match. I'm glad he got this for his retirement tour. You could tell in the post-match celebration how much it meant for both Cody & Cena. All time WWE match and easily my favorite MOTY. Go out of your way to watch this. This was special!"
[0.0] "A bad match, better than the unwatchable garbage at WrestleMania (which isn't that difficult). Still, I found it excessively long and overloaded with finishers--they did like 15, which makes these lose all credibility as finishers. WWE should ditch the finisherfests already. On the other hand, it lacked blood. I'm not a fan of adding blood anywhere, but this match needed it. As for the return of the sexual pervert after the match, it's better not to even talk about it."
[10.0] "ABSOLUTE CINEMA! This was an amazing way to close the show with Cena passing the torch to Cody Rhodes as the next big babyface of WWE in a big high profile matchup. This was 30x better than the Mania match. The heel turn didn't work so the embraced it and went with it. This is what I love to see from WWE. Let's hope they turn things around in 2025. Go watch it for yourself. [*****]"
[10.0] "Wie froh ich bin, dass Cena bei seinem letzten Run dieses eine Match jetzt hat, an das sich alle in Jahren erinnern werden. Man kann vieles kritisieren und auch der Face-Turn kam ziemlich aus dem nichts, aber zum Glück haben sie das gemacht. Soll mir jemand nochmal erzählen, dass ein Face/Face Matchup nicht funktioniert, dieses Match ist das perfekte Beispiel dafür. Ein geniales Match mit Spannung pur, die Crowd war von Sekunde eins dabei und hat für eine tolle Stimmung gesorgt. Viele Finisher-Kickouts, aber es passt einfach zu so einem großen Match mit so einer Starpower. Natürlich darf man Cody auch hier nicht vergessen, niemals hätte ich mir gedacht, dass der Typ so ein Superstar werden wird bzw. der größte Star seiner Era, aber hier sind wir nunmal(*****)."
[9.0] "This was a weirdly built match, with Cena randomly turning face on the go-home BEFORE the match (instead of the obvious option to turn him DURING the match) to give us a weird face-vs-face street fight. See what I mean about them being too cute for their own good for the booking? But after the obligatory aura farm for a couple of minutes, we jump straight into action and we get what we should've got at WrestleMania. For the first time since the Chamber, Cena looks good, and it just goes to prove how much of a complete fumble the heel run was (funnily enough, in the same stadium as the most infamous fumble in football history). Sometimes, things are just bad, you know, and it's healthier to recognise that. If they just gave us tonight's Cena at Mania, maybe the bloom wouldn't have come off WWE's rose, you know? Because in their absence, this match exposes one of the key problems with WWE booking recently and a lesson they should've learnt from Dusty: they are getting too reliant on interference spots and bullshit finishes. You should be able to enjoy a match without dreading it being ruined, but try as I might, there was still that itch in the back in my head. But thankfully, that bullshit finish didn't come; in the end, it was honestly a great match -- Cena's best since the feud with AJ a decade ago -- and like the Punk/Gunther match 24 hours previous, a testament to why you should just let the talent wrestle. So why won't they just let people wrestle? At the end of the day, the wrestling is the draw, and it always has been. It's really not that hard. But it's just a crying shame that they went and ruined what was a decent night with what happened after. But that's not strictly part of the match, so it would be unfair to blame the match for it."
[10.0] "This is without question arguably the greatest match of John Cena's career. The best I saw was him and Punk at Money In The Bank. The Return of him being a babyface and how it was used for both him and Cody here is how it should've been done at Wrestlemania. Cody and him had tremendous chemistry. The wrestling combined with beautiful storytelling here was awesome. The near spots in the match had me tense. I was freaking out with numerous crossrhodes and AAs being kicked out of. It truly was the passing of the torch. Btw Brock!"
[7.0] "A strong match, easily Cena's finest since his return, but it gives in to the very worst impulses of the finisher spam stuff that a match like Rock/Cena II had. I like a long grand epic, and I like a match where two guys are throwing bombs the whole match, but usually those two dont mix super well. I just wish that about half of the AA's and Crossrhodes were any other move, and it would be a genuine classic to me, because their individual performances were awesome aside from the choice to use those moves 800 times. ***3/4."
[10.0] "What a main event. I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. This felt like the perfect way for John Cena to close out a huge chapter of his career. Seeing him come out as a face again after that strange heel phase, that alone hit me right in the feels. It felt like the John Cena was back, the guy we grew up on. Hustle, loyalty, respect... all of it. And this match was a reminder that Cena was never the issue, it was just the direction his character took. In the ring, the man still delivers. The storytelling here was top-tier. Cena carrying Cody on his shoulders and hitting the AA on the stage it felt like something out of a movie. The emotion was real, and the nearfalls had me several times. I kept thinking, "Okay, this is the finish, " but they just kept pushing it further. That's what made it so intense. Every moment mattered. Cody winning was 100% the right move. This was the ultimate torch-passing moment. Sure, a part of me was rooting for Cena just to complete the full-circle story. But in the end, Cena gave it his all, honestly, this might've been one of his best matches in years, maybe even since the AJ Styles match back in 2017. And then that post-match moment with Brock Lesnar! Wow. That stare-down alone said so much. This match exceeded my expectations and for me it deserves every word of praise."
[7.0] "Street fights in WWE can be a little toothless, and this was no exception. Plus it is a face vs face matchup- how vicious can either of these guys really get? The answer is not that vicious. There's no blood or any particularly brutal spots. Nothing really stands out as special in it either except for the number of kickouts after finishers, double finishers, avalanche finishers, and finishers through a table. The match itself could have probably stood to be about ten minutes shorter as well, but it kept my attention the whole way despite this. Definitely an improvement over their disastrous mania match. Well wrestled and compelling considering the length."
[7.0] "Wrestling-wise, it was much better than their WM match, with Cena especially pulling some rare moves. However there are a couple of things I didn't like: Firstly, for a street fight, they didn't seem to utilize the stipulation much if at all and felt more like a regular no-DQ. Secondly, the match went on for too long, they could easily cut 10 minutes from it and it could be an easier watch. And thirdly, Cody just... winning felt pretty underwhelming. No interferences (not necessarily a bad thing tbh), no twists and turns... it's really weird how they seem to just be winging it with Cena's retirement tour and sincerely randomly turned him face again. As for Cody, with how long he keeps postponing it, by the time he actually turns heel people might not even care. It's just a shame cause there was a lot of potential to do something interesting here. With all that being said, it was still an enjoyable match and the effort Cena put is commendable."
[9.0] "Wow! Didn't expect to see Big Match John back! Cena was humping like it's 2015/2017, their abomination from WrestleMania can be forgotten, this is the real Cody vs Cena! Some crazy spots, a well paced fight, the nostalgia feeling of seeing babyface Cena doing his best work since the AJ Styles matches, the "Super Cena" chant (in a good way) and the CLEAN finish! Really great stuff, too bad WWE ruined everything after the match."
[8.0] "Good match! Genuinely was quite surprised to see the match put together about as well as it could've been. Way too many kick out of the same finishers to be a great match, as it got a little repetitive after a while, but I give them a ton of credit for doing an entire universal championship match without any interference, and they let it breathe. Had a couple of cool moments with the sunset flip and carrying Cody on Cena's shoulders up the elevator. Some of the moves weren't done great, and I think for a street fight it was certainly a little vanilla, but altogether a match that both guys can be proud of and one of the better big 4 main events I've seen, definitely better than the match the night before."
[10.0] "[*****] Thank you John Cena. Thank you. This was a match of pure brutality. A perfect slow-burn. A 40 minute classic. Cody Rhodes dethroned the newly babyface John Cena without turning heel, and honestly, it worked out so good. John Cena wrestled his best match since Royal Rumble 2017 against AJ Styles. This was just so amazing."
[8.0] "Hat Cody nun doch geschafft John in einem 1vs1 zu besiegen. Es war ein langer und starker Undisputed WWE Title Street Fight. Ich gebe hier (***1/2)."
[8.0] "Clears their WrestleMania match by a ridiculous margin. There were a ton of really fun spots in here and the story told throughout was really damn good I thought. The AA coming out of the Codyvator was also very sick. My only major gripe that really took me out of the match was the finish just felt so flat. The Cody Cutter through the table looked awful and then one Cross Rhodes after being all it took was just...lackluster? Anti-climatic? Especially since earlier in the match we saw Cena kick out of 3 in a row and other super finishers being kicked out of (that I really enjoyed honestly) that just a bad table spot + one Cross Rhodes that Cena couldn't make look good hurt the finish and the overall match for me personally."
[10.0] "This match was just insanely good. The spots all looked really good. John Cena coming up with Cody on his shoulders was a crazy spot. There was a bunch of finishers, but that made the match better, because I didn't know when that match would end. 10/10"
[10.0] "By far the best match of the weekend and one of the best in wwe all year. Cena turned back the clock and gave the fans something to remember on his last run which is all I wanted. Cody held his own as you'd expect and is rightly champion again. The aftermath is really unfortunate because what should be remembered as a special match is now being downplayed and hated on because of wwe getting in their own way as per usual"
[10.0] "This was the match we deserved to have at Wrestlemania. I think turning Cena face again and just having them have a normal match was an absolutely amazing idea. This is truly the Rock/Hogan of this generation of wrestling. I think the finish was a bit underwhelming because of the finisher spam throughout the match, but that didn't bother me that much."
[8.0] "****3/4 a very great match, one of the best of Cena's career and far far above the WM 41 match, they started strong fighting practically, bringing out their arsenal, even Cody pulling off an impressive Piledriver, and the first AA they did very well because it was obvious it wouldn't end there, they brought out weapons and made great spots worthy of the stipulation, the second AA arrived but Cena couldn't cover Cody and then outside the ring he applied a third AA now to the commentary table, then there was a brawl outside the ring among the public with a great suplex spot to a metal barrier that looked painful, and when they disappeared upon entering under the stage for me it was the perfect opportunity to make Cody bleed when they appeared in the elevator, unfortunately it didn't happen and it went normally, a 4th AA I think arrived on the ramp, and Cena took Cody to the ring to look for another but without achieving much, Cody began to give excellent touches of storytelling with his most violent way to act since the three cross rhodes (which I thought was excessive the kick-out there but it worked to cause a brutal pop) also the attempt to use the belt that Cena avoided and applied two AA and a super AA followed by another exaggerated kick-out that was the bad thing about this fight as much as I understand it, the most important spot of the match was in my opinion Cody using the bottom corner to attack Cena, Cody unleashed using the most violent facet seen of him in WWE, Cena also used it but only the rope for an STF, in the end everything ends with a Cody Cutter from the third rope to a table, and a moment with Cody saying goodbye to Cena and applying a last and definitive cross rhodes to become undisputed champion again, MOTY Contender that if it weren't for the excessive kick-outs would be top 3 of the year"
[10.0] "Well well well... John Cena still got it in 2025, and Cody Rhodes of course wins the title, but honestly, a little bit dissapointed because there was no hell turn in the end and I waited for it... but I rate match, and it was a cinema"
[10.0] "This is the first truly great Cena match since Royal Rumble 2017 against AJ Styles. I rate matches against five metrics: 1. ) star power 2. ) storytelling 3. ) stakes 4. ) audience investment 5. ) in-ring work. This match was 10/10 in all five categories. We got fantastic in-ring wrestling, but also amazing brawling (with a tremendous shot of Cena coming up with Cody in the AA position). The star power was off the charts, reminiscent of Rock/Hogan or Cena/Rock. They made all the moves meaningful, let them breathe, and their facial expressions conveyed the story being told I didn't think Cena could perform at this level anymore, but he did. Kudos to both men for one of the best US matches of the year."
[10.0] "This is a absolutely amazing main event thanks to Cody Rhodes and John Cena. Absolutely loved this one one of the best matches of this year post match is wild to john cena is unbelievable in this match"
[5.0] "John Cena worked harder than he has in other matches of this retirement run. The structure of the match was heavily built on AA's and Cross Rhodes's. Typically this is the layout of your average WWE main event: finisher, near fall, repeat. But even for them this felt very excessive, particularly when Cena kicked out of 3 consecutive Cross Rhodes's and Cody from the avalanche AA. Combine that with corny moments such as brawling under the entrance ramp only for them to come up the elevator on the stage, i wasn't very into the match. On top of this I don't think the match needed to be 40 minutes as I don't think that's conducive to a good performance from either of these specific wrestlers."
[10.0] "Trying to capture what I originally wrote - attended this live and this match was ELECTRIC from start to finish. Both Cena and Cody had the crowd going insane for the majority of the match, it was easily one of the best and most entertaining matches I've ever attended live. Cena and Cody are both two of my all time favorites, and I'm so glad they had Cena revert back to being a face and kept it that way for the whole match. I'll remember this experience for the rest of my life. The big moves hit all the right emotions at the right time. 10/10 effort from both of these men"
[9.0] "Das war doch Mal ein Match, welches den beiden Größen ihrer jeweiligen Zeit gerecht wird. Nachdem ihr erstes Match bei Wrestlemania ein bedauerlicher Reinfall war, konnte dieser Street Fight auf ganzer Linie überzeugen. Insbesondere Cena konnte trotz seinem fortgeschrittenen Alter noch erstaunlich gut performen und einige doch recht heftige Spots zeigen. Auch die " Super" Cena und " Super" Cody Sequenzen waren gelungen und eine großartige Anspielung an die damalige " Prime" -Zeit Cenas. Insgesamt ein würdiger Main Event mit einem verdienten Gewinner."
[1.0] "I don't give zero ratings to things that aren't flat-out hateful, but come the fuck on, this was an awful main event and almost a ironic parody of what these matches should be. Firstly, I officially gave up on the John Cena story a while ago, as I thought it was boring, poorly acted and filled with so many run-ins and dumbass elementary school drama-level troupes that it made it feel more like a bad acid trip than actual wrestling, so I admit that I have some sour grapes. But onto the match, as whilst John Cena was much better here than he was at previous, he was still clearly below what a PPV main eventer should look like. A lot of spots just looked plain-ass weak, such as Cody Rhodes choking John Cena with the ropes via his damn temple, that awful and painfully cero-graphed entrance ramp spot, John Cena pretending to struggle to lift very obviously cheap, weightless stairs before chucking them at Cody and a lot of very unconvincing and sloppy moves. Also, can Cena please stop loudly calling out spots during his matches? It's so distracting and WWE is the only place that I really know that does this type of stuff in such a obvious and aggravating way. However, my biggest problem with this match is the comical amount of no-selling and kickouts, I counted that John Cena hit 8 AA's in this match, with one being off the top rope, one being on the ramp and one being through the commentary table, EIGHT AA'S, it's basically not even a finisher at that point and I refuse to let my suspension of disbelief go that far. Cody Rhodes was no saint here too, as John Cena also kicked out of an comical amount of 'Cross-Rhodes', and I don't even hate kickouts, but such an clear short-sighted over-reliance on these things doesn't make the wrestlers look strong, it makes the moves instead look weak-ass shit and it makes the match seem like a parody. I thought that the awful John Cena vs Randy Orton match was bad, and trust me it was, it just goes to show how tiring this formula has been without being affected any nostalgia rose-tinted glasses of Cena. I did appreciate that this match at least tired to copy spots from John Cena's more violent matches with the likes of Umaga, but not only do I feel like that was still extremely uncreative and lazy, but these spots where still executed much poorer. This amplified with the fact that they're weren't any other key-spots that seemed violent really made this feel like a bland PG street fight, and I do know that having more extreme spots is a bad idea due to Cena's condition, but then why make this match a fucking street fight when it would've been so much better without it? I also feel the need to note that matches length, as I simply do not believe that this match didn't go 50+ minutes, this shit felt like an eternity and you could see this exhaustion being felt through the crowd, given how they where actively quiet as the match entered it's final faze. I would've shaved 10 minutes off this match, because when Cody and John started fighting through the crowd far too late to justify it, I actively considered turning off the match and going to sleep. I guess WWE did this because these worked well when Roman Reigns did all of this two years ago, but at least that had a story which the majority of people actually liked instead of a storyline which only people infected with a lethal does of misguided nostalgia do. Instead of this, this formula in Cena matches feel played out and actively aggravating, especially as Cena never had the small interesting character-notes that Big Joe had during his time as champion, as Cena again was far too expressionless during this match and it's a real shame that he didn't play off any the crowd suspicion about his surprise and non-sensical face turn a few days ago. Accordingly, who knows, maybe I would've been much more positive about this match if I had a personal stake in the match, as I have made my feelings about John Cena clear by this point, but I do think that the fact that I'm even saying this does present a clear problem with this storyline for certain fans. This is because this whole John Cena saga has been almost comically uninterested for more hardcore long-term fans, as these people simply never cared about him 10 years ago due to the fact that he simply made us watch something else at that time. This added with the fact that WWE never gave this storyline any added sentimental/ violent edge really made this whole thing feel like it was made for PG-era casuals, and that's fine and all, but it does become seriously isolating if you wanted something more out of the product. This is made even worse by the fact that John Cena matches have all sucked since his heel turn, meaning that a lot of people didn't have anything to cling onto besides some disappointingly executed story beats that where never going to be that interesting in the first place. Honestly, all of this had made me lose so much interest in the WWE recently, and it's a real shame given how I used to adore this product when I was younger. I'm also just not gonna fucking talk about Brock Lesnar here, as that piece of shit booking simply isn't worth my time, I'm just gonna say how much of a simply ugly decision this was given how Brock is facing extremely awful accusations at the moment and how much respect I have lost in Triple H specifically as a result of it. I'm also not gonna ask where the fuck Dwayne was, because yeah, obviously that fraud wasn't going to show up, as even though it would make perfect sense given the story, I guess it's simply because he wasn't paid enough. I think these are discussions for another time, and please do note that my anger from that hasn't affected my score. But yeah, whilst this wasn't as absurdly bad as some matches before in WWE, this is probably the worst main event of the 2020s and maybe in general. But damn WWE just sucks now, and I really don't know if I can keep watching a company with so little brains and morals, damn"
[10.0] "Not in my wildest dreams could I have expected to love this match as much as I did. Just a clean war between two top guys fighting for the biggest prize WWE had to offer, no nonsense, what a relief. I was genuinely shocked, Where has this John Cena been ever since elimination chamber? This was the match me and my friends were hoping they would have without truly expecting it. Did it go a bit too long? Probably. Did it impact me in the moment? Nope. That's usually a sign of a classic to me, that I genuinely don't realize how much time had passed. The match did become a bit too NXT takeover coded at times for my taste, but even that couldn't stop me from loving this match. There's were some fantastic near falls that completely got me, and the way they teased Cody potentially turning heel was excellent. It even made me laugh out loud at times with Cena coming up through the Codyvator. It's safe to say that I was sports-entertained."
[10.0] "One of the best matches of the year. This was really personified the "we are sorry about Mania sucking this year" booking that went into this event cause this was miles better than the Mania match"
[7.0] "Obviously this match is tainted because of the returning rapist afterwards but I have to talk about how nice it was to root for Cena one last time. He wrestled with a passion tonight working a well-paced, laugh-out-loud kickout fest, WWE epic that he has so desperately needed to do for the past eight months. It's relieving when he finally does it in a silly street fight against Cody. Does it redeem the WrestleMania match? No, that was still abysmal dogshit even before Travis Scott came out. Does it redeem Cena's heel run? No, that was also still abysmal dogshit but it doesn't matter at all in this match. It works well on its own as a pulpy, energetic contest between two company aces. I have made it clear that I hate Cody's current babyface persona so I was rooting for Cena hard here. I was on the edge of my seat like a kid hoping he would take out the guy I didn't like in front of the big stage. But, he didn't. It wasn't an incredible losing effort or anything, but also not quite a bummer. Maybe I would've looked at this more fondly if not for what took place afterwards, but as it stands, it was a very good main event. ***1/2"
[6.0] "really really want to give this match a better rating than this but some of the stuff that happened in the match just turned me off. First of all this was promised a brutal violent street fight. Cena said on last Smackdown that street fight is one of the most dangerous matches in wwe. But they didn't even do anything extreme. Cena should have bled. I'm not saying bleeding profusely but a little bit of blood would have massively improved this match. Also it definitely dragged in between some spots. And mid match they were fighting like a regular match inside the ring, barely exploiting the street fight stipulations. Piledriver was surprising but Cena kicking out and then jumping straight up and delivering AA and then collapsing suddenly was very indie. It would have been so much better if he had just kicked out of piledriver and then gingerly struggled with Cody and then hit AA. Then the non stop finisher spam was so awful. In kayfabe these guys might be stronger than actual bulldozer at this point. I hate million false finishes. But it was also very special if we account for the context. It was passing of the torch from one top guy to another. Cody also showed that he is not your usual babyface. He is the kind of babyface that doesn't mind getting his hands dirty if push comes to shove and he has shown that so many times. He hit AJ Styles with the steel steps after AJ said I Quit in Scotland. He hit Kevin Owens with a CrossRhodes on a steel chair when referee wasn't looking at SNME. It's his character. And tonight he was hitting Cena with turnbuckle although he actually looked torn about this. He showed that he was totally unhappy when he was putting down Cena but it was necessary to him."
[8.0] "You know what, I prefer to have logic and selling in my wrestling much more than anything else. But sometimes, for matches like this one, You need to just sit back and enjoy. And I mostly did that. There were a few moments I rolled my eyes at and thought there were too many Near Falls. But a great performance from both of them as this was probably Cena's Last world title match. The crowd ate this up, from start to finish, and I, Despite myself, enjoyed the match quiet a lot"
