WWE

After beating Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE Championship at WrestleMania 41, John Cena has already shifted his attention to his challenger at Backlash, Randy Orton.

With Rhodes likely out of commission for the foreseeable future, the 17-time champion will need a new opponent for SummerSlam, and names such as CM Punk, Sami Zayn and AJ Styles should be at the top of the list.

Here are the best feuds for Cena once he disposes of Orton.

CM Punk

When it comes to Cena's career, there are few feuds held in higher regard than his business-altering moments with CM Punk.

Money in the Bank 2011 is still considered a pivotal point in both men's careers due to the implications of their WWE Championship match and the fallout.

This time around, The Best in the World would be trying to save WWE again, but this time, Cena would be the monster heel without Vince McMahon lurking in the background. And this time around, Punk won't walk out as champion.

The Second City Saint remains one of WWE's most popular performers, but he isn't on the level of Cena during his retirement tour's championship run. While Punk vs. Cena would be a marquee addition to the SummerSlam card, the outcome is a stone-cold lock.

Cena will eventually drop the title, but it will be to a talented younger performer who needs the moment. Punk is on his last legs in wrestling, and flat-out doesn't deserve the honor.

Sami Zayn

As part of Cena's retirement tour, he looks to be wrapping up all the loose ends he had during his career. One wrestler with something left to prove to him is Sami Zayn, who made his debut against The GOAT in 2015 and dislocated his shoulder in the process.

With the injury marring what was otherwise an incredible moment, the immensely popular Zayn can finally get his chance to fully shine if he is the man tasked with standing against Cena at SummerSlam in MetLife Stadium on August 2-3.

Zayn was cast aside at WrestleMania 41 due to the injury to Kevin Owens, but the popular veteran deserves a makeup moment at SummerSlam. While the former NXT champion won't beat Cena, his performance could cement his place as a top Superstar who can never miss another Show of Shows if healthy.

Add in the intense crowd reaction to the babyface Zayn trying to take down the heel version of Cena, and the resulting staredown before the main event will reach all-time levels.

AJ Styles

In 2016, AJ Styles made his WWE debut after a long career in TNA, ROH and the independent scene. While fans were concerned about how he would be booked, his storyline with Cena confirmed he deserved the stage.

The two men have fought on several occasions, with their matches at SummerSlam 2016, Money in the Bank 2016 and the Royal Rumble 2017 all highly regarded. With the tagline "Beat Up Cena" as a highlight, the storied feud was one of The Last Real Champion's best.

Now that Cena is a heel, WWE Creative should revisit the popular program.

Styles has been desperate for a meaningful feud that capitalizes on his talent and popularity, and another SummerSlam bout against Cena would be ideal.

The challenger won't walk out of New Jersey with the title, but the momentum from the match could be what he needs heading into the second half of 2025.

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During an interview with Ariel Helwani of Yahoo Sports on Wednesday, WWE Hall of Famer "Stone Cold" Steve Austin discussed multiple topics related to his recent appearance at WrestleMania 41.

Appearing on the Ariel Helwani Show, Austin was asked about Logan Paul's claim that he turned down a significant monetary offer to wear a Prime bottle mascot suit.

Austin confirmed that was true, saying:

"I just thought that was kind of personal business, but since it's out there, yeah, I turned it down. I'm in the beer business, I sell Broken Skull beer. ... I don't know anything about his product. ...

"It's just, that's not my gimmick. Like I said, he's doing really well obviously. He's hustling, he's going and getting it and more power to him. It wasn't a great fit for Steve Austin."

Paul first brought it up as a topic of conversation on his Impaulsive podcast (h/t Fightful's Skylar Russell) last week, saying:

"Bro, we offered Steve a million dollars to be in the Prime bottle. He didn't do it, instead he ran a poor woman over with an ATV. We offered him a million, we were like, 'Bro, do you wanna get in this bottle?' I don't think he considered it for a second. Imagine the face reveal, though. You open the Prime bottle and it's f--king Stone Cold. He could've done anything, which is why I think it would have worked ultimately. Maybe one year. I’m just saying bro."

In previous years, YouTubers KSI and IShowSpeed donned the Prime bottle costume and got involved in Paul's WrestleMania matches, but Austin had no interest in continuing the gag.

Paul alluded to Austin's ATV mishap at WrestleMania, which was another discussion Stone Cold had with Helwani on Wednesday.

On Night 2 of WrestleMania, Austin made his way to the ring while driving an ATV, which he had done many times in the past. However, Austin seemed to lose control at one point, smashing into the barricade.

A woman who was standing at the barricade fell backward and Austin checked on her before getting in the ring to announce the Night 2 attendance.

Austin explained Wednesday what went wrong and admitted he was "embarrassed" that things didn't go according to plan:

"Long story short, just a different throttle system because I'm pretty damn handy on a four wheeler. ...

"I was embarrassed about it. I think everybody's OK, but I mean, you go out there on the biggest night in wrestling, and you end up like that, it's not the greatest day at the office. You go out there and you wanna give people the best show that you can, and when you fall short of that, it's not great."

Austin was able to recover from the botch by announcing the attendance figure and celebrating with some beers, much to the delight of the live crowd at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

Last year at WrestleMania 40, Austin was not present despite speculation that he would perhaps help Cody Rhodes beat Roman Reigns for the WWE Championship.

He was back in the fold for WrestleMania 41, though, appearing at the event itself and accepting an induction into the WWE Hall of Fame's Immortal Moment wing with Bret "Hitman" Hart for their legendary WrestleMania 13 match.

Listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot wrestling topics. Catch the latest episode in the player below.

Bleacher Report catches you up on the latest news from the WWE Universe and All Elite Wrestling.

WWE's Reported Plans for Rollins' Stable

Despite speculation regarding additional members joining Seth Rollins' new stable, there are reportedly no immediate plans in place for that to happen.

According to Fightful Select (h/t Cultaholic.com's Aidan Gibbons), the plan for the stable as of WrestleMania weekend when it formed was for it to consist solely of Rollins, Bron Breakker and Paul Heyman for the time being.

It was also noted by Fightful that rather than comparing the stable to past ones such as Evolution or Heyman's Dangerous Alliance, the goal is for Rollins' stable to stand on its own and be emulated by future groups.

In the main event of Night 1 of WrestleMania 41, Heyman shocked the WWE Universe when he turned on both Roman Reigns and CM Punk by helping Rollins win the Triple Threat.

Two nights later on Raw, Breakker saved Heyman from a Reigns spear and ended up spearing Reigns through the barricade.

Breakker turned in a dominant performance in a win over Sami Zayn on this week's episode of Raw after Zayn refused to leave Raw and get out of the new stable's way.

Given Breakker's physicality, Rollins' championship experience and Heyman's status as a mastermind, it is easy to understand why WWE would be happy to keep the stable a three-man unit for the foreseeable future.

Roxanne, Giulia Reportedly Not Considered Official Call-Ups

Roxanne Perez and Giulia have appeared on Raw the past couple of weeks, but that reportedly doesn't mean they are full-time call-ups from NXT.

According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Cultaholic.com's Jack King), Perez and Giulia are still considered NXT wrestlers despite the main roster appearances.

On the Raw after WrestleMania, women's world champion Iyo Sky and NXT women's champion Stephanie Vaquer had a friendly match that was interrupted when Perez and Giulia attacked them, only to get run off by Rhea Ripley.

That was followed this week by Ripley beating Perez by disqualification on Raw due to interference from Giulia.

Amid the Raw appearances, Perez lost an NXT Women's Championship match to Vaquer on the April 22 episode of NXT, and on this week's NXT, Sky and Jordynne Grace beat Perez and Giulia in a tag team match.

While immediate future plans for Perez and Giulia on the main roster remain unclear, their continued presence on NXT suggests they won't be leaving the black and gold brand behind any time soon.

Whereas Fraxiom received a clear call-up to SmackDown and have not appeared on NXT since then, Roxanne and Giulia are pulling double duty, which could mean WWE is keeping its options open.

Cope Eyeing Retirement in Near Future

AEW star Adam "Cope" Copeland suggested this week that his time as an active pro wrestler is nearing its conclusion.

During an appearance on First Up with Korolnek & Colaiacovo (h/t Felix Upton of Ringside News), Cope expressed his belief that he will likely end his in-ring career when his contract expires in two years, saying:

"Not much longer. The schedule is far better than what it used to be. If you asked me to try and pull off over 200 days a year that I pulled before, there is absolutely no way because the recovery takes too long now.

"I'll have a match and it'll take me a good week to finally start walking normal. I've realized now, I'm 51 years old, I figure I have until maybe 53, the end of this contract, and then it's probably time to call it a day and get out while I can still limp away [laughs]. Lick my wounds and do a whole lot of yoga after."

Cope, who turns 52 in October, joined AEW in 2023 following the expiration of his WWE contract.

As Edge, Cope developed into a top star in WWE from 1997 until he was forced to retire in 2011 due to a neck injury. However, against all odds, he was cleared to return to the ring in 2020, nearly 10 years after retiring.

Cope has enjoyed some success in AEW, including holding the TNT Championship twice, but he also missed about seven months last year due to a fractured tibia.

Years of wear and tear have perhaps taken their toll on Cope, but he is still more than capable when he's healthy, which suggests he has a great opportunity to end his career on a high note over the next two years.

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