Randy Orton drops John Cena with RKO on WWE Raw after WrestleMania
It looks like a familiar rival will be John Cena’s first Undisputed WWE Championship challenger.
Monday night’s Raw after WrestleMania opened with Cena cutting the first promo of his record-breaking 17th World title reign. After calling himself the last real champion and promising to retire with the belt, Cena was interrupted by Orton blindsiding him with an RKO. Orton posed with the title before laying it back onto Cena.
WWE has not confirmed the title match yet, but Backlash — the company’s next PLE — is taking place in Orton’s hometown of St. Louis. It’s being held at the Enterprise Center on Saturday, May 10. Both Cena and Orton are advertised for the show.
Cena said during his promo tonight that he only has 27 dates left on his retirement tour before he wrestles for the final time in December 2025. The heel Cena stressed that those are 27 appearances and he will not be having matches on every date.
With help from rapper Travis Scott, Cena dethroned Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship in the main event of WrestleMania 41 night two. Orton also competed on Sunday, defeating TNA star Joe Hendry in an open challenge. A match between Orton and Kevin Owens was originally scheduled for Mania before Owens had to withdraw from the show due to injury.
Forever linked as two defining stars of WWE’s Ruthless Aggression era, Cena and Orton are longtime rivals but have not had a one-on-one match against each other since 2017.