Former WWE World Heavyweight Champion returning to Backlash after 16 years

WWE recently announced that Backlash 2025 will take place at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri, on May 10. Multiple names have been advertised for the event, and one of them will be making an appearance after 16 years.

John Cena shocked the wrestling world at Elimination Chamber 2025 by selling his soul to The Rock and attacking Cody Rhodes. The three-time World Heavyweight Champion is set to have a face-to-face confrontation with his WrestleMania 41 opponent on next week's RAW for the first time since his heel turn.

However, before that, WWE has confirmed that Cena, Randy Orton, plus many more will be part of the Backlash 2025 premium live event. This will be The Cenation Leader's first appearance at Backlash since 2009, which took place on April 26 of that year.

WWE legend comments on John Cena's heel turn

While speaking on a recent edition of the Off The Top podcast, Rikishi said he liked the way John Cena's heel turn was written at Elimination Chamber.

The WWE legend predicted that Cena would most likely bring back his Doctor of Thuganomics gimmick after joining the dark side.

"Well, it’s good for business. My goodness. It was written so well. This is John Cena’s last tour. So the whole world was behind this guy because of what he’s given to the business. We’ve seen it, we’ve heard it numerous times. Probably one of the most iconic, loved professional wrestling superstars in history. To be able to just, out of the blue…when he hugged Cody, and he’s looking at Rock, his face changed. It was like a demon. It’s like a demon came up into John, and all that rage of whatever it is that made him throw away all those people’s love and support, supported him through the years, and he sold out."

It will be interesting to see how Triple H books The Cenation Leader on the Road to WrestleMania 41 and beyond until his retirement later in the year.

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