John Cena beats Randy Orton at WWE Backlash to retain Undisputed WWE Championship
John Cena retained the WWE undisputed title with a victory over Randy Orton at Backlash, just three weeks after winning it at WrestleMania for a record 17th world title reign
John Cena retained his Undisputed WWE championship with a victory over long-time rival Randy Orton at Backlash.
Big Match John took advantage with a low blow to Orton and a shot to his head with the title belt after the Viper was distracted by R-Truth, who had ran in to stop him punting Cena in the head.
The messy finish came after both men traded finishers, including Randy Orton hitting John Cena with his own finisher through a table twice.
The brutal bout saw two ref bumps and officials run-in to try to restore order, but hometown hero Randy Orton lost his cool and hit a number of them with RKOs.
Earlier in the match, as Cena tried his patented Attitude Adjustment finish, Orton somehow countered into an RKO, meaning both men seemed to hit their finisher at the same time.
The match had been hyped as possibly the last time the two legends would face off in a WWE ring as John Cena’s retirement tour hit St Louis.
The red-hot crowd was largely behind Orton, but chants of “you can’t wrestle” aimed at Cena were interjected with cries of “yes he can.”
After the match, Cena told the broadcast truck to cut his music and he addressed the crowd, coldly telling them: “Drink it in St Louis. Because this is what the last real champion looks like.”
Cena and Orton first clashed in development territory Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) back in 2001, and they have since met in 10 singles matches at premium live events, previously called Pay Per Views.
Long-time babyface Cena had been the overwhelming crowd favourite in the majority of their matches, but they swapped roles for Saturday night’s event.
Cena won a 17th career world title at WrestleMania with a victory over Cody Rhodes, which broke a Ric Flair’s all-time record of 16 championship reigns.
Orton, who previously said he expects to wrestle for five more years at least is currently on 14 career world title reigns.
Earlier in the night, fellow veteran Becky Lynch lost to her one-time protégé Lyra Valkyria and Jeff Cobb interfered in the fatal four way for the US title.
Backlash 2025 results in full:
Undisputed WWE championship: John Cena (c) def. Randy Orton
WWE Women’s Intercontinental championship: Lyra Valkyria (c) def Becky Lynch
WWE United States championship: Jacob Fatu (c) def. LA Knight vs. Damian Priest vs. Drew McIntyre
WWE Intercontinental championship: Dominik Mysterio (c) def. Penta
Gunther def. Pat McAfee.
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