Potential spoiler on length of John Cena's 17th WWE World title reign

The 17-time World Champion defended his title for the first time in St. Louis!

John Cena successfully defended the Undisputed title against Randy Orton at Backlash 2025 on May 10 in St. Louis. This was Cena’s first title defense since winning the title by pinning Cody Rhodes in the main event of WrestleMania 41.

The win saw Cena break the tie with Ric Flair and become the one and only 17-time WWE World Champion in promotional history. However, Cena’s plan to retire at the end of 2025 has sparked speculation since his title win about when he might drop the championship.

According to Fightful Select, sources they spoke with indicated that current plans have John Cena’s Undisputed WWE Championship reign extending into the summer.

Cena is likely set to battle R-Truth next, according to reports, especially after Cena put Truth through a table during the Backlash post-show press conference, despite Truth having helped him during the match, interfering when Orton was going for the punt kick. The shocking betrayal might lead to a clash between the two at the upcoming Saturday Night’s Main Event.

Also Read: Report: Details regarding John Cena’s final WWE match revealed

John Cena visibly got emotional after Backlash 2025 win

After the defending the title at the PLE, Cena grabbed the mic and shouted at production to cut the music. Climbing the ropes, he declared that he didn’t need entrance music or the crowd; what he needed was real competition. Once again, he reminded everyone that this is what the last real Champion looks like. The crowd showered him with boos as the show came to an end.

Howver, as the broadcast ended Cena left the ring and in a clip posted on WWE’s X (Twitter) handle, the crowd can be heard cheering, “Thankyou Cena” showering love on the 17-time World Champion, who was seen out of character as he seemed very emotional.

Cena also broke character during the interaction with R-Truth at the post-show press conference, where he can be seen visibly unable to control his laugh, letting out a chuckle, before quickly getting back into character and slamming Truth through the table.

It’s unclear whether it was a tease of an eventual face turn for the 17-time World Champion or simply an emotional reaction after his final match with Randy Orton, as he was visibly moved by the overwhelming love from the fans.

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