While it should’ve never gotten to this point, here we are—WWE needs to fix John Cena’s heel character in a hurry. This has been apparent since Cena’s title win over Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania, which received lukewarm reviews at best. The situation only became more dire at Backlash as he retained his title over Randy Orton.

Saturday night in St. Louis was about giving one final quality showing between John Cena and Randy Orton and advance WWE’s stories toward a busy summer with three PLEs — including a two-night SummerSlam — a “Saturday Night’s Main Event” and “World’s Collide” with newly acquired AAA.

WWE Backlash 2025 was a stellar Premium Live Event capped off with the headliner, John Cena vs. Randy Orton. The last match between these two legendary rivals for the Undisputed WWE Championship ended in chaos.