Cody Rhodes defeated Kevin Owens for the third time at WWE Royal Rumble. (Credit: WWE/Getty Images)
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WWE Royal Rumble 2025 was a chance for Kevin Owens to punch his ticket to WrestleMania 41, but in the end, Cody Rhodes left Lucas Oil Stadium still the WWE Champion.
Former friends turned bitter enemies, Owens and Rhodes battled back and forth an instant classic ladder match, and on more than one occasion, it looked like Owens would pull off the upset and win just his second-ever WWE world title. Instead, Rhodes sent Owens crashing though a ladder with a vicious Alabama Slam and retained his WWE Championship, likely ensuring that he will enter WrestleMania with the title around his waist.
Owens’ loss, his third title loss to Rhodes, was widely expected, given that Rhodes has been WWE’s No. 1 star during its hottest period of all time. For fans of Owens, however, there was a glimmer of hope that WWE would book a monumental upset and have Owens leave Indianapolis with his first WWE Championship win, which would have marked arguably the biggest victory of his career.
But it just wasn’t mean to be.
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Instead of throwing a major booking curveball and giving Owens the improbable win, WWE played it safe and kept the WWE Championship on Rhodes. After a brutal and bloody back-and-forth battle, Rhodes put the exclamation point on his victory with a devastating Alabama Slam to likely put Owens in his rearview mirror for good.
It’s hard to argue with that decision, too. Rhodes has been one of the key factor’s behind WWE’s resurgence over the past couple of years, helping drive the company to consistent sellouts and its best overall product in decades.
Now, after successfully defeating Owens, Rhodes potentially has the opportunity to keep that momentum going with one of the biggest dream matches in WWE history.
No, it’s not Rhodes vs. The Rock. WWE has reportedly pivoted to Rhodes vs. John Cena at WrestleMania 41 in what would be a highly anticipated and, potentially, a history-making bout. Although WWE has always pushed Owens as one of its biggest stars, it’s a true credit to Owens that he doesn’t need to be involved in the title picture to remain relevant.
Of course, neither does Cena, but the 16-time world champion isn’t always chasing history like he would be now. If Cena can capture a Royal Rumble victory later tonight, that would pave the way for Cena vs. Rhodes with the WWE title on the line at WrestleMania 41, where Cena could potentially win his record-breaking 17th world title.
That’s a very easy story to tell, with the current face of WWE against the former face of the company as the latter pursues history. It would certainly explain why Owens, despite his character desperately needing a win at the 2025 WWE Royal Rumble, wasn’t able to emerge with the victory.
As big of a star as Owens is, Cena vs. Rhodes is the type of a once-in-a-lifetime match that fans will remember for decades. So too are other potential WrestleMania matches for Rhodes, like bouts with CM punk. That, in a way, made Owens’ loss a necessary evil to produce the most stacked WrestleMania 41 card ever, with a blockbuster attraction for Rhodes to book end the show on Sunday night.
Owens, as he seemingly often does, came close to ruining those plans at WWE Royal Rumble, but with Cena vs. Rhodes all but confirmed, he never really had a chance, did he?
