15 Greatest Angles In Modern Wrestling History

Yes, it all ended up with John Cena basically apologising to the fans and sneakily turning face on the eve of SummerSlam. In the defining thread of WWE's 2025, the follow-up to a hot angle was inexcusably bad. 

But the angle itself was too incredible to omit here. 

It was rushed and didn't make a great deal of sense. Why would The Rock, a member of the TKO board, want to orchestrate a scenario that would result in Cody Rhodes, top draw, losing his spot? 

The moment was so powerful that the fans and even the promoters didn't want to think beyond it. It had to be done, somehow, just once before Cena hung them up. The allure of the idea, viable in a post-Vince WWE, cast a spell over everybody. The actual scene itself was probably worth it. Cena is definitionally uneven; the fate of his final year was sealed regardless. 

The Rock sent the signal after Cena lured Cody into an embrace, getting off on his evildoing so much that he effectively penetrated himself when performing the "throat slit" gesture - a weirdly good choice for an angle designed to unsettle. Cena went a lot more broad with it, but when his face dropped from a smile to a frown, that second was worth it. 

The resulting beat-down was awesome. The rare use of blood enhanced the drama, the violence, the sense that this shouldn't be happening and something must have gone wrong for it to be happening. The use of Dusty Rhodes' watch was a vile personal touch. Travis Scott f*cked up his role and hurt Cody because he was incapable of pulling his stuff, but it worked to deepen a tone struck beautifully across every department. Michael Cole dropped an expletive, which worked to great effect because it's a no-no in WWE. A transgression put over the transgression.

The single most unexpected thing left in wrestling happened, and the execution was great.