6 Ups & 10 Downs From WWE Raw (6 Jan - Results & Review)

3. Cena Sets His First Goal

WWE Raw John Cena
WWE

Heading into 2025, fans had already begun speculating about how John Cena’s last year of active competition would take shape.

When it came time for Cena to discuss the matter on Raw on Monday night, he leaned into that fantasy booking. After talking up his connection to Los Angeles throughout his wrestling career, Cena turned to fan discourse about who he should face at WrestleMania or in his last match, rattling off a series of names such as Drew McIntyre, CM Punk, Logan Paul, Gunther, and Cody Rhodes.

He then brought up the question of when he would vie for a record 17th world championship. That’s when Cena pivoted, pointing out that he hasn’t won a singles match in more than 2,400 days (against Triple H at the Greatest Royal Rumble in 2018), so he really isn’t in a position to compete for a world title.

But before fans could despair, Cena did his pseudo-epiphany routine, observing that it would take a miracle to earn a world title match, such as winning Money in the Bank or Elimination Chamber… or the Royal Rumble. You can guess the rest, as Cena fired up and announced he was entering the Rumble and was going to win it.

Yes, this is cheesy as hell, and if you don’t like that Cena shtick, then this was a waste. But there is value in Cena chasing his 17th world title, and having him come right out of the gate and try to punch his ticket – while acknowledging that he hasn’t done anything for five years to be handed a world title bout – was the right move here.

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Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fondly remembers watching WrestleMania III, IV, V and VI and Saturday Night's Main Event, came back to wrestling during the Attitude Era, and has been a consumer of sports entertainment since then. He's written for WhatCulture for more than a decade, establishing the Ups and Downs articles for WWE Raw and WWE PPVs/PLEs and composing pieces on a variety of topics.