WrestleMania 41: John Cena makes history, highlights star-studded WWE weekend
John Cena makes history in his heavyweight match against Cody Rhodes, Paul Heyman was the x-factor in the triple threat match, and more surprises from WrestleMania41.
LAS VEGAS — Now that WrestleMania 41 has come to a close, it’s time to deal with the fallout.
The “new year” in WWE is already upon us less than 24 hours after its signature event ended as Raw serves as the starting point for the next season in wrestling. The show after the two-day event has become so popular, it’s commonly referred to as the Raw After WrestleMania.
There’s plenty of things that will need to be discussed or dealt with as WrestleMania weekend comes to a close in the Sin City. After capturing the Undisputed WWE Championship in the main event, John Cena now reveals his plans on how he plans to ruin wrestling. Plus, what happens next after the shocking finish in night one, when Paul Heyman turned on CM Punk and Roman Reigns by helping Seth Rollins win?
It’ll be a can’t miss episode of Raw. USA TODAY Sports will provide live updates and highlights from the show.
Fans were excited for the impromptu match between two of the most talented champions, and the bout began with some mind games from both sides. Understanding the talent each possessed, it went from an excited feeling from the two to the intensity getting raised.
Match in progress.
The Women’s NXT Champion makes her way to congratulate Sky for her win before introducing herself to her.
“I want to come out here to show you respect,” Vaquer said.
She added she wants to fight the best of the best, and Sky accepted her challenge for a match at that moment. Raw general manager Adam Pearce came out and confirmed the match to happen.
After winning arguably the best match of WrestleMania 41, the Women’s World Champion entered the ring to a rounding applause from the crowd.
“Last night was the best night of my career,” Sky said. “I am over the moon.”
The first shocker of the night happens. Raw After WrestleMania is indeed Rusev day.
Rusev is back in WWE for the first time since 2020 after his departure from All Elite Wrestling. Rusev came out to excitement from the crowd as he prevented a World Tag Team Championship match from happening. He attacked Alpha Academy as the crowd chanted “Rusev Day.”
The new World Tag Team Champions told people to get on their knees and respect them for getting gold back on their hands. They said no other tag team compares to them, and that’s when Alpha Academy came out. Maxxine Dupri mentioned Otis and Akira Tozawa had beaten them recently, so they deserved a shot.
After initially passing on it, Dupri asked if the champions were scared. Kingston rebuffed, and said to have the match now.
Gable said he “watched” El Grande Americano at WrestleMania 41 and loved seeing him emerge victorious. He said the luchador isn’t at Raw, but he will be back soon.
Frustrated with the loss at WrestleMania, Morgan wasted zero time unleashing an attack on Lynch. Morgan went with a flurry of moves to get ahead, but a sneaky pin from Valkyria got her in the match and able to change the momentum. The Women’s Intercontinental Champion went to work on both Morgan and Rodriguez in and out of the ring.
As Valkyria was rolling, Rodriguez shoved her partner into their opponent to stop the roll. From there, the challengers went to work as Valkyria tried to get the tag. She was able to dropkick Rodriguez and tag Lynch in, and “The Man” teed off on Morgan. Lynch was cruising toward a pin until Rodriguez stopped it from happening. The challengers then had their best opportunity when Morgan hit a powerbomb on Lynch and Rodriguez did a flying powerbomb on Valkyria. It looked to be enough, but Valkyria kicked out.
After Rodriguez and Lynch tried to help out their partners, Valkyria wasn’t looking when Morgan set her up for ObLIVion. She executed it and got the pin to get the titles back one day after losing them.
With the reign suddenly over, Lynch turned on Valkyria by attacking and berating her for losing the titles.She hit her with multiple Manhandle Slams in an act of pure aggression.
Analysis: Things escalated quickly. Lynch and Valkyrie’s reign doesn’t even last 24 hours as Morgan and Rodriguez win their titles back. It makes sense since the title win was done only to bring Lynch back, and now Morgan and Rodriguez can say they are four-time tag team champions.
But then the post-match attack happened. Lynch suddenly showed her dark side on someone that was her friend. Valkyria looked confused and sad before she fell victim to several punches. This likely leads to Lynch challenging Valkyria for the Women’s Intercontinental Championship soon.
We got another edition of a classic rivalry coming up.
After Cena told fans to take a picture of the last real champion in WWE, Randy Orton emerged to hit an RKO out of nowhere on the champion. He stood over Cena and held the Undisputed WWE Championship up.
Nothing else was said, but we know what’s next: it’ll be Cena vs. Orton for the title, and it’s likely to happy at Backlash in St. Louis, Orton’s hometown.
After getting an introduction from Mark Shunock, Cena takes the microphone with the words, “winners write history.”
The crowd cheers for Cena, but he dismisses it. He believes it’s not a good relationship since the crowd cheered during his downfall less than a week ago, so it’s not allowed to celebrate his championship victory.
“You don’t mean anything to me,” Cena said as the crowd chanted an expletive. “Your noise means nothing to me.”
Cena reminded the fans he had 36 dates during his farewell tour, and after tonight, there’s only 27 appearance left for him in 2025.
“You say I cant’ wrestle? I don’t have to,” Cena said. “When that hits zero, the professional wrestling timeline stops.”
Cena said he knows wrestling will continue after he leaves, but he will be going out with the actual WWE Championship. He will be the final champion and no one else will have it.
“There is no one with strength, speed, wisdom or ruthless aggression of John Cena,” he added.
The new Undisputed WWE Champion gets Raw going, making his entrance as the crowd goes crazy. Cena is wearing the title on his waist backwards. He makes his way to the ring and raises the title in the air as the pyro goes off.
What time is WWE Raw After WrestleMania?
Raw After WrestleMania 41 is on Monday, April 21 at 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT).
How to watch WWE Raw After WrestleMania
- Date: Monday, April 21
- Time: 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT)
- Stream: Netflix
Is Monday Night Raw on Peacock?
No, WWE Raw is exclusively on Netflix.
Where is WWE Raw After WrestleMania?
SmackDown will take place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Raw After WrestleMania match card, scheduled events
After winning on WrestleMania 41 night two, Cena said he will be part of the show, unveiling his plan to ruin wrestling.
Matches include:
- WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship match: Lyra Valkyria and Becky Lynch (c) vs. Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez.
- Intercontinental Championship match: Dominik Mysterio (c) vs. Penta.
Also scheduled to appear are World Heavyweight Champion Jey Uso, Seth Rollins and Paul Heyman.
This will be updated when WWE announces the card.
Monday Night Raw does not have a set time on Netflix. However, it typically runs from two and a half to three hours long.
Here’s a list of everyone that won at WrestleMania 41:
- Jey Uso (Wins World Heavyweight Championship).
- The New Day (Win World Tag Team Championship).
- Jade Cargill.
- Jacob Fatu (Wins United States Championship).
- El Grande Americano.
- Tiffany Stratton (Retains WWE Women’s Championship).
- Seth Rollins.
- Iyo Sky (Retains Women’s World Championship).
- Drew McInytre.
- Dominik Mysterio (Wins Intercontinental Championship).
- Randy Orton.
- Logan Paul.
- Lyra Valkyria and Becky Lynch (Win Women’s Tag Team Championship).
- John Cena (Wins Undisputed WWE Championship).
The first night of WrestleMania ended with a stunning moment. See everything that happened, including highlights and analysis, from Saturday here.
Incredible matches took place on WrestleMania night two, capped by the main event between Cena and Rhodes. See what transpired, from highlights to analysis, on Sunday here.
After John Cena defeated Cody Rhodes in the main event of WrestleMania 41 to capture his record 17th WWE Championship, he didn’t give an answer to any questions about the victory. Questions about The Rock or whether he’ll smile were met with “that seems like clickbait.”
So in the final question, a USA TODAY Sports reporter asked Cena about what was going through his head as he made WWE history, if he felt reminiscent of everything he’s accomplished over his storied career and what it’s like separating himself as the most decorated WWE star.
Simple enough right? Think again.
“You know, that seems like a clickbait question,” Cena told USA TODAY Sports. “I’m beginning to sense a pattern here that you guys are just looking for headlines.
“Keep in mind you are now talking to the last real champion. Step your game up next time,” he added.
It’s a response good enough to hurt the ego, but it’s a reminder that in his final act, Cena is still at the top of his game.
Read more about Cena’s final WrestleMania here.
Ahead of WrestleMania 41, Paul Heyman was asked by USA TODAY Sports who needed to win the triple threat match between Roman Reigns, CM Punk and Seth Rollins in the main event of night one.
The WWE Hall of Famer said he could go in front of the Supreme Court and spend hours advocating why each star should win. It was easy – and it makes sense – for him to make a case for the two stars he’s represented in his career. He said it would be unfathomable for Reigns not to win, and he could say with 100% certainty Punk needed to be victorious.
And then there was Rollins. Even though he hadn’t been his advocate, Heyman said Rollins would need a victory “or everything falls apart.”
What is everything? We found out on WrestleMania 41 night one.
Read more about Rollins’ signature moment here.
