Former WWE star Matt Hardy gave his candid take on the WrestleMania 41 Night 2 main event, where John Cena defeated Cody Rhodes to become a 17-time world champion. Speaking on his podcast, Hardy praised both men for their performances but questioned how the match was laid out—particularly the finish and how it impacted Cody’s image as a top babyface.
“The match, when I watched it back, especially the match they had between one another. You had Cody kick out of multiple [Attitude Adjustments], right? He escaped the STFU a couple of times. I thought, especially for what I expected for John, John being older, I still thought he had a real solid match for a main event when it was all said and done.”
While he commended the in-ring work, Hardy was critical of how the match concluded and the absence of The Rock, who was heavily involved in the buildup but didn’t appear at the event.
“The biggest critique I have was that finish and protecting Cody and the way it was done. I would have loved to seen Rock there, I felt like The Rock being there would have made sense, it would have kind of tied everything together that was part of the story.”
Hardy went on to pitch an alternate ending involving Travis Scott, who appeared during the match, interfering more directly to stack the odds against Cody.
“Maybe he gets up on the apron like he’s going to come in, Cody goes to confront him, Cody goes after him and then chases him around the ring or something. He comes back in and now John has gotten back up and has the title… as the last second Travis Scott just hits him, drops the title. He turns around, Cross Rhodes him, and that’s where he gets blasted with the title by [Cena].”
Ultimately, Hardy expressed concern that the way the story was told made Cody Rhodes look too sympathetic, potentially weakening his character.
“I don’t want to see the deal where Cody had this title after what John Cena had done to him… and now he has sympathy for this guy. I feel like you can’t put Cody in that position. It’s just hard for Cody… We need to keep Cody as strong as possible and in that finish, I would have tried to book him as strong as possible.”
The WrestleMania 41 main event continues to generate buzz with fans and insiders alike, especially as Cena enters his new heel chapter and speculation swirls about what’s next for Rhodes.
Stay tuned to PWMania.com for continued post-WrestleMania coverage and backstage updates on Cody, Cena, and The Rock.
