Here's who wins Cody Rhodes vs John Cena Wrestlemania match for Universal championship

KD Drummond

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Here's who wins Cody Rhodes vs John Cena Wrestlemania match for Universal championship image

(WWE.com)

It took a while to get going, but the WWE finally has things in a good place for the Cody Rhodes reign and his return to Wrestlemania. After a too-long feud with the Bloodline left his champion run with a lot to be desired, the transition to fending off two major heel turns was perfect booking for the beloved figure. After surviving a great couple months of dealing with the incomparable bad guy Kevin Owens, no one saw the turn of John Cena for his retirement tour coming.

Cena attacked Rhodes following the former's Elimination Chamber win while Rhodes was turning down The Rock's offer to be his corporate champ. If that, and the Travis Scott punch that left Rhodes with a black eye, weren't enough, the two mic masters went toe-to-toe during the European tour, escalating things to a great fevered pitch.

Now, the super confident Rhodes will put his adoration to the side and try to pummel reality back into the disillusioned Cena's brain, and stop him from winning his WWE record 18th world championship.

Matchup History: Cena has a 37-3 Record Advantage across single, tag matchups

Last Match: 

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Match Prediction

Predicted match length: 20 minutes

There's an interesting thing happening with this year's Wrestlemania, where one of the two nights is going to be headlined by a non-championship match (Roman Reigns vs CM Punk vs Seth Rollins). Not knowing which title match is being bumped is a huge statement for where the two matchups are as far as fan interest.

Rhodes was dominated by Cena before leaving for AEW and Cena's retirement. But the twist to intertwine The Rock's desire to have Rhodes join his stable was a last-minute swerve that has altered where this match could lead. There are plenty of candidates to join his faction, though the Owens' injury that takes him out of Wrestlemania may put a damper on those plans.

This one feels like an inevitable outcome with Cena getting the record, especially with him threatening to win and walk away with the belt. Our prediction is that Rhodes will lose, get beaten badly to initiate a short-lived sabbatical, and then have to run through a gauntlet of Rock lemmings to send Cena into retirement towards the end of the year. 

KD Drummond

KD Drummond is an old-school, NWA-over-WWF wrestling fan who came up watching wrestling on DC20 at 5 p.m. every weeknight, and Starrcade and the Great American Bash pay-per-views. An NFL writer and editor since 2010, turning his attention to his re-emerged fascination into the wrestling world was a no-brainer. Heel turns and storylines, beware… if they aren’t top notch, they will be mocked! Follow him on Twitter/X: KDDrummondNFL.