7 Ups & 4 Downs From WWE Elimination Chamber 2025

2. Cody’s Soul Is Not For Sale

Lost in the shuffle of the main event segment and John Cena’s shocking heel turn was the solidification of Cody Rhodes as the ultimate babyface, the Cena of our time.

In the lead-up to Elimination Chamber, the focus was entirely on whether Rhodes would give in to The Rock’s demand to sell his soul to the Final Boss and become his champion. The offer came with all the trappings of fame and fortune, as an incredible video package earlier in the night laid out Rock’s power and influence.

But in the span of about a minute, Cody shot all of that down, telling Rock that he gave his soul to wrestling and the fans a long time ago, and the Great One could “go f**k yourself”.

Just like that, Rhodes stood up to the ultimate power broker in WWE and the entertainment world at large and resisted temptation, and did so in a strong, defiant manner. The pop from the fans for that rejection was only exceeded by what came next with Cena.

What this means is that Cody will be the virtuous hero who stands up to the corrupt authority figure and jaded former hero, ending all speculation and clearly charting his path. If he goes out on his shield, so be it, but it was great to see that even cynical wrestling fans will still side with a force of good.

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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.