Becky Lynch is introduced prior to her match with Lyra Valkyra for the Women's Tag Team Championship against Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez during WrestleMania 41 at Allegiant Stadium on April 20, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ethan Miller, Getty Images/AFP

MANILA — John Cena is the WWE Champion for a record-setting 17th time in his career.

In what was billed as his last WrestleMania ever, Cena triumphed over former Undisputed champ Cody Rhodes in WM41 on Sunday (Monday morning, Manila time) in front of 63,226 fans at the Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

Rhodes did not take advantage of the opportunity of striking Cena with the belt when the official was down, and the latter instead took his chance by hitting the “American Nightmare” with a low blow and the said belt to get the 1-2-3.

This now puts Cena — who previously announced how the entirety of 2025 will be his retirement tour — in the history books anew as he overtook “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair who is a 16-time World Champion, with some help from Travis Scott.

pic.twitter.com/RxulWDxCGh

— WWE (@WWE) April 21, 2025

Despite making history, however, Cena offered very little about his latest feat.

“You guys are just looking for headlines, so I’ll give you one: Tune in to Monday Night Raw, and see how I ruin wrestling,” Cena, who previously aligned with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson after Elimination Chamber, said during the post-event presser.

On the other hand, Rhodes’ 378-day reign as Undisputed Champion dating from WrestleMania XL Night 2 has come to an end.

The night also marked the triumphant return of top women's superstar Becky Lynch, who was greeted with raucous cheers by the Las Vegas crowd when she made her long-awaited entrance.

THE MAN is BACK at #WrestleMania! pic.twitter.com/IMDqYl7buv

— WWE (@WWE) April 21, 2025

“The Man,” whose last appearance was in May 2024 — coincidentally against Liv Morgan in a steel cage match — teamed up with Women’s Intercontinental Champion, fellow Irish Lyra Valkyria, in search of the Women’s Tag Team Championship.

“Big Time Becks” suited up in place of Bayley who was attacked on Saturday, and Lynch and Valkyria went on to overcome Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez to earn the tag titles.

Meanwhile, Iyo Sky was successful in retaining her Women’s World Championship in her triple-threat title defense to open Night 2 of the Show of Shows

Reminiscent of how Jeff Hardy won the WWE Championship in Armageddon 2008 — with the Extreme Enigma hitting a last-second Swanton Bomb to defeat Triple H and Edge — Sky soared for a moonsault over Bianca Belair who just took down Rhea Ripley.

The Japanese star then pinned Belair to complete the victory and come out still as champion.

#IYOSKY won in an absolutely blazing #WrestleMania opening match! pic.twitter.com/Tx7pPnebBq

— WWE (@WWE) April 20, 2025

Unfortunately, Bron Breakker was not able to defend his title in his own multi-man match, as “Dirty” Dominik Mysterio emerged successful in claiming the Intercontinental Championship.

The son of legendary Luchador Rey Mysterio went over Breakker, Penta, and his “Judgment Day” stablemate Finn Balor in a Fatal 4-way to win his first singles title in the Main Roster.

Another winner on Night 2 was Randy Orton who issued an open challenge after his planned match with the injured Kevin Owens was shelved.

Orton still made the most of his 20th ‘Mania match in what was a short but sweet victory over TNA World Champion Joe Hendry.

The 14-time champion gave Hendry his flowers after the bout, but it did not come free as Orton delivered it with an RKO.

Also on the winning end were Drew McIntyre who thrashed Damian Priest in their Sin City Street Fight, and Logan Paul who made a statement by defeating veteran star AJ Styles.

Another thing of note was WWE Legend “Stone Cold” Steve Austin crashing his way into announcing Sunday’s attendance and the total gate for both nights which was at 124,693.

As Austin made his entrance riding a four-wheeler, the Hall of Famer crashed ATV ride into the barricade and inadvertently hit a fan.