John Cena now stands alone with the most world championship wins in pro wrestling history.

Cena, 47, defeated Cody Rhodes for the Undisputed WWE championship in the main event of WrestleMania 41 Night 2 at Allegiant Stadium on Sunday night.

It gives Cena his 17th world championship, moving him one ahead of the legendary “Nature Boy” Ric Flair. 

Cena displayed his villainous side throughout the match, especially towards the end. Rapper Travis Scott made a surprising appearance to support Cena when Rhodes resisted a fourth Attitude Adjustment. At one point, Scott intervened by pulling the referee out of the ring to prevent the “American Nightmare” from emerging victorious.

Subsequently, Cena tried to hit Rhodes in the face with the championship belt. Although Rhodes managed to block the attempt, he hesitated to retaliate in the same manner. Taking advantage of this moment of hesitation, Cena resorted to a low blow followed by using the title to secure a monumental victory with a 1-2-3 count.

With this win, Cena broke the tie with Flair at 16 championship reigns. This victory comes two decades after he claimed his first WWE title by defeating JBL at WrestleMania 21, effectively ending Rhodes’ impressive reign of 378 days.

It is also Cena’s first televised singles victory since he defeated Triple H at the Greatest Royal Rumble in April 2018.

This, however, was Cena’s first world championship as a heel after turning on and attacking Rhodes, alongside The Rock and rapper Travis Scott, after 20‐plus years as a babyface in one of the most shocking moments in wrestling history. Cena is set to retire at the end of this year after 25 years in WWE.

Cena is Rhodes’s real-life mentor. He used to drive him up and down the roads during The American Nightmare’s first stint in the company.

The story going into the match had Cena breaking up with the WWE audience after years of making him the most polarizing performer in the sport despite all his wins. Cena called it an abusive relationship.

Cena said in one of his storyline promos that it made him sick to see his former driver bring mediocrity in his eyes to a championship he helped elevate for all those years. He plans to retire as champion and make everyone else chase a “toy belt.”

We will now get one more Cena championship run for however long it lasts. With Randy Orton on the Backlash poster with the event in his hometown of St. Louis, the two old rivals may face each other one last time, with Orton sitting on 14 world championships and trying to close the gap.

(Flair technically has more than 16 world title victories in his career, but the year-long placeholder WCW International World Heavyweight championship, which he won twice, and his non-televised NWA World’s Heavyweight champion wins are not recognized by WWE.)