Booking John Cena Over The Next Year
6. The Rematch
Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon pull out all the stops on the post-Mania Smackdown in order to celebrate their new champion, with a coronation ceremony where a truly humbled John Cena thanks them for the opportunity and the WWE Universe for always driving him to be the best that he can be.
Cena admits that while some might be unhappy that he stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Ric Flair, he simply wants to show them why he deserves that spot by defending the title with honour and dignity - before being abruptly cut off by AJ Styles.
Styles is livid that he lost to Cena, and even more pissed that the new champ gets a lavish night of celebrations in his name despite never getting that himself. "I was the champ that ran the camp for six months, and just like everybody else in this company, that's been buried at the behest of John Cena!"
It's at that point that Cena snaps, offering Styles his contractually obliged rematch under any stipulation that he wants in order to prove that he talks the talk AND walks the walk, to which Styles asks for an iron man match.
The two duke it out over 60 whole minutes at the next Smackdown PPV, trading pinfalls and even submissions to take it to a tight finish; Cena manages to come from behind and retain his title in a brutal classic, thus ending the longstanding rivalry between the two and providing moments the WWE Universe will talk about for years.