Cody Rhodes defeats John Cena for the WWE title, but Brock Lesnar’s shocking return at SummerSlam 2025 leaves fans stunned.
WWE SummerSlam 2025 Night 2 Results: Brock Lesnar Returns to Upstage Cody Rhodes originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
Cody Rhodes did it. He finished another story by beating John Cena clean in the SummerSlam 2025 Night 2 main event. Cody walked out as the new Undisputed WWE Champion. It was poetic, emotional, and physically brutal—the perfect torch-passing moment between two generations of top stars.
Then Brock Lesnar showed up.
Brock Lesnar has returned to confront John Cena pic.twitter.com/T6Ha4NDA4i
— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) August 4, 2025
BROCK. LESNAR. IS. BACK.
— WWE (@WWE) August 4, 2025
HERE COMES THE PAIN! 👊 pic.twitter.com/uR2z9RVoZu
Lesnar’s return wasn’t just surprising—it was legitimately shocking. The former world champion had reportedly been done with WWE since 2023, quietly exiting after legal entanglements sidelined him from WrestleMania 39 and everything that followed. For over a year, he was absent from TV, promotional materials, and most fan speculation. WWE had moved on. Or so we thought.
Because of the real-life stuff, this one felt arguably more shocking than what we saw from Seth Rollins on Saturday night.
Cena and Cody had just delivered a classic—arguably the match of the weekend. They kicked out of everything: Cross Rhodes, Avalanche AAs, spike piledrivers, and more.
When Cody finally pinned Cena, the crowd gave both men their flowers. Cena stood up, nodded to the new champ, and the tributes began to pour in online.
The next chapter begins! 💪#AndNew#SummerSlampic.twitter.com/kwhuFWdVi6
— WWE (@WWE) August 4, 2025
Epic. Epic. Epic. pic.twitter.com/Q8dmcMyZgQ
— Wrestle Features (@WrestleFeatures) August 4, 2025
Passing the torch pic.twitter.com/zMHH2du2Dr
— Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful.com (@SeanRossSapp) August 4, 2025
But just as Cena was soaking in what looked like his farewell moment—Lesnar’s music hit. I don’t know about y’all, but I went bananas in my office.
The Beast Incarnate hit the ring with cold purpose and dropped Cena with a thunderous F5, erasing the sendoff and replacing it with one more painful chapter. Lesnar looked as jacked and fit as I’ve seen him in years. Mind you, he just turned 48 a few weeks ago.
For Cena fans, it was heartbreak. For Cody fans, it was a reminder: the top spot in WWE is layered as Rhodes’ title run got upstaged a bit. And for everyone else, it was proof that in WWE, no door stays closed forever. Once we saw CM Punk, no return should ever be ruled out.
Lesnar’s return changes everything—and now we know what’s next for Cena.
Related: WWE SummerSlam 2025 Night 2 Results: Cody Rhodes Wins Title–But Brock Lesnar Returns
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Aug 4, 2025, where it first appeared.
Category: General Sports
