Cody Rhodes Honors John Cena After Final Match – Cody Rhodes delivered an emotional and heartfelt reflection on John Cena’s career and legacy following Cena’s retirement match at WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event. The tribute came moments after Cena exited the ring for the final time, as WWE transitioned its broadcast to a post-show video released on YouTube.
Standing ringside as the arena continued to buzz with emotion, Rhodes spoke with Jackie Redmond and struggled to hold back tears while processing the magnitude of the moment. With Cena’s career officially at an end, Rhodes focused less on the result and more on what Cena represented to the wrestling industry as a whole.
“It’s really hard to describe, in the sense of all the positives he brought to our industry and leaving it better than we found it,” Rhodes said. “Wrestling is, there’s a way it ends. He did everything right by the book, and it’s still like, when it’s that good, you don’t want it to end. I know that’s vague, but he did everything by the book and taught so many people. He set such a high standard, such a high bar.”
Rhodes emphasized that Cena’s influence went beyond championships and main events, pointing to the discipline, professionalism, and consistency that defined his career. He urged fans to reflect on the full scope of Cena’s journey.
“I’m not trying to get emotional on his night, but more than anything, take a moment and think about those sneakers, and the pump-ups before that, and the man that filled those, and what he was able to do through good and bad times,” Rhodes added.
One moment that stood out to Rhodes was the crowd’s response. For much of Cena’s career, mixed reactions were common, but on this night, the message was unified.
“Tonight, everyone was just chanting ‘Let’s Go Cena’ — not a ‘Cena s**ks’ chant in the house. It’s everything,” Rhodes said. “I’m so happy that it happened. It’s a great, great arena with wrestling history, and I’m so glad it happened there.”
Rhodes also spoke about Cena’s role as a mentor, describing him as someone who prepared the next generation for life beyond the ring.
“John led with his mind. He’s a businessman, and he was trained by businessmen, and he trained us to be businessmen,” Rhodes explained. “To go out here where you’ve got 19,000 people and not a soul leaves until he leaves — that’s a sign he had a great career, and we can only hope to have something like that. Hats off to the greatest of all time.”
During the interview, Rhodes revealed that he immediately accepted Triple H’s invitation to be part of the event. Earlier in the night, Rhodes opened Saturday Night’s Main Event in a physical interbrand bout against NXT Champion Oba Femi, a match that ended in a no-contest following interference from Drew McIntyre.
Cody Rhodes Honors John Cena After Final Match
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