RAW after WrestleMania 41 kicked off with Undisputed WWE Champion John Cena making his entrance dressed in black gear, hoisting his championship belt as a massive burst of pyro lit up the stage behind him.
Once in the ring, Cena called over the ring announcer—stepping in for Alicia Taylor, who had the night off—and handed him a statement to read. The announcer began by apologizing, saying he had been told that his original announcement was considered disrespectful. He then recited Cena’s over-the-top, self-penned introduction, rattling off a long list of accolades, including calling him the Greatest Of All Time.
Holding up the title, Cena declared, “Winners write history.” He told the crowd they weren’t worthy. Addressing the fans directly, he said they couldn’t boo him on Friday and expect forgiveness just because he won a title and now they’re cheering. “That’s not how a functional relationship works,” he said. He reminded them that even if they’re in a good mood, he could still tell them to go to hell. “You all owe me an apology,” Cena claimed, “but you don’t have the guts to give it.”
He went on to say that this has always been the show where fans try to take over, but now they’ve gone soft. As the crowd started chanting, “We are sorry,” Cena mocked them, saying they were actually chanting, “We aren’t sorry.” He scanned the crowd and called them “the sorriest lowlifes” he’d ever seen and told them they meant absolutely nothing to him. The audience responded with chants of “a$$hole,” which Cena embraced with open arms, calling them idiots and reminding them he’s taken their best shots for 25 years without ever staying down. “What makes you think you are the crowd that’ll break me?” he asked. “Your noise means nothing.”
He then directed attention to the screen, which displayed “36 dates.” Cena reminded them that he had said at the start of the year that he only had 36 appearances left before walking away. He began counting them down as the number dropped to 27. “These aren’t matches,” Cena clarified. “These are appearances. You say I can’t wrestle? I don’t have to. I just have to show up and do this.”
Cena said when that countdown hits zero, “the pro wrestling timeline stops cold.” While he acknowledged there would still be future episodes of RAW and more champions to come, the championship once held by legends like Bruno Sammartino, Roman Reigns, Triple H, Shawn Michaels, and Stone Cold Steve Austin now belonged to him—the last true undisputed champion in WWE.
Winning the title was the hard part, he explained, and now all that’s left is to manipulate the fans. “Cody Rhodes was your best hope,” Cena said, “and you booed him, you cheered him, and now when I say his name, you’re disgusted.” That, according to Cena, was the problem. “That’s why last night, Cody Rhodes got outshined, outclassed, out-wrestled, and destroyed.”
He told the crowd to look in the mirror and accept the truth: no one in WWE has the strength, speed, intelligence, and ruthless aggression that he does. But, unlike the fans, Cena said he has a heart—and because of that, he wanted to give them something to remember. “Get your phones out,” he told them. “Take the picture. The last real champ is here.”
Just as Cena finished his speech, Randy Orton appeared behind him, striking with an RKO out of nowhere. Orton crouched over Cena’s fallen body, lifted the title, and smiled as he raised the championship high in the air.
OUTTA NOWHERE! 😏#RawAfterMania pic.twitter.com/Dw2NqGKfvI
— WWE (@WWE) April 22, 2025
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