Cody Rhodes-John Cena WWE SummerSlam Match Receives Stunning 5-Star Rating
Cody Rhodes and John Cena had an all-time classic WWE Championship match in Cena’s last SummerSlam match.
In the main event of WWE SummerSlam Sunday, the 17-time WWE World Heavyweight Champion John Cena put his title on the line against the King of the Ring, Cody Rhodes. It was a rematch from WrestleMania 41 when Cena cheated with the WWE Title and was helped by Travis Scott.
This time around, Cena had dumped his heelish ways two days earlier on SmackDown and the two men hugged before their Street Fight.
Rhodes and Cena went on to have an incredible match for 38 minutes, where both guys kicked out of many finishing moves. They used weapons, they broke a lot of tables, and eventually Rhodes hit Cody Cutter through a table. That was followed up with a Cross Rhodes for the pinfall win to make Rhodes a two-time WWE Champion.
After the match, Rhodes and Cena hugged, Rhodes was visibly emotional as his wrestling hero spoke to him and the fans cheered all of it.
The match was well-received, with WWE commentators Michael Cole and Wade Barrett praising it as a legendary match reminiscent of Cena’s best performances.
It was a match that was also praised by Dave Meltzer, who gave it a coveted five-star rating in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter this week. That was the same rating given by yours truly as well.
For Cena, it was only the second time in his 20+ year career where Meltzer gave him five stars or more for a match. The only other instance was Money in the Bank 2011 against CM Punk, another match Cena lost.
As for Cody Rhodes, Meltzer went five stars for his AEW Double or Nothing 2019 match with Dustin Rhodes, an AEW Dynamite match in January 2022 with Sammy Guevara, the Hell in a Cell match with Seth Rollins in June 2022 when Rhodes competed with a torn pectoral muscle, and the Backlash France match in May 2024 against AJ Styles.
John Cena-Cody Rhodes Match Was Rated The Best At WWE SummerSlam
The two-night WWE SummerSlam event featured 12 scheduled matches, along with a 13th match that saw Seth Rollins cash in Money in the Bank on CM Punk.
Here’s how Meltzer rated the 12 matches in order from best to worst, with the Cody Rhodes-John Cena match leading the way.
- Cody Rhodes vs. John Cena – 5*
- Six tag team TLC match – 4.75*
- CM Punk vs. Gunther – 4.5*
- Naomi vs. Rhea Ripley vs. IYO SKY – 4*
- Roman Reigns & Jey Uso vs. Bron Breakker & Bronson Reed – 4*
- Logan Paul & Drew McIntyre vs. Jelly Roll & Randy Orton – 3.75*
- Becky Lynch vs. Lyra Valkyria – 3.75*
- Alexa Bliss & Charlotte Flair vs. Raquel Rodriguez & Roxanne Perez – 3*
- Dominik Mysterio vs. AJ Styles – 2.75*
- Tiffany Stratton vs. Jade Cargill – 2*
- Solo Sikoa vs. Jacob Fatu (Steel Cage) – 2*
- Sami Zayn vs. Karrion Kross – 1.5*