John Cena Goes Rogue, Uses Dirty Tricks to Snag Historic 17th WWE Title at WrestleMania 41

John Cena sure knows how to flip the script. At WrestleMania 41, Cena ditched his usual rainbow of positivity and swaggered to the ring in black and white, looking more like a villain plotting a heist than the face of "hustle, loyalty, respect." The crowd at Allegiant Stadium split down the middle—half chanting his name, the other half booing him like the Raiders had just fumbled another playoff shot. And honestly, the drama was real.

This wasn’t the Cena we're used to. He stayed away from Cody Rhodes in the opening minutes, only picking his spots and landing hard-hitting moves that felt more like brawling than wrestling. The intensity amped up as the match went on, with both men exchanging blows in a rivalry that’s been simmering since Cena and The Rock’s Elimination Chamber alliance.

Chants of "Let’s go Cena" and "Cena sucks" echoed throughout the arena, proving once again that wrestling fans have commitment issues. Cena tried his signature Five Knuckle Shuffle, but Rhodes countered with a well-timed poke in the eye, then followed up with a Disaster Kick and Cody Cutter. Cena fired back with his Attitude Adjustment, but even a top-rope version wasn’t enough to put Rhodes away.

The energy kept building. Cena locked in the STFU submission, but Rhodes refused to quit. Just when things got wild, the referee went down—classic wrestling chaos. Cena tried to take advantage by exposing the ring post and hitting another Attitude Adjustment, but Rhodes still kicked out.

Then, in true WrestleMania spectacle, Travis Scott’s music hit. The rapper, who’d already left Rhodes with a black eye at Elimination Chamber, tried to interfere. Rhodes turned the tables and dropped Scott with Cross Rhodes, proving that if you’re going to crash the party, you’d better be ready for a fight.

But Cena wasn’t done going low—literally. After a tussle over the championship belt, Cena delivered a sneaky low blow and clocked Rhodes with the title. He pinned Rhodes and, just like that, made history with his record-breaking 17th WWE Championship. Cody Rhodes’ title reign, which started after his big win at WrestleMania 40, came to a screeching halt.

Sometimes, legends are made not just by what they win, but how far they’ll go to get it. And on this night, Cena went all the way to the dark side.