John Cena admits RKO on AJ Styles wasn’t planned at Crown Jewel 2025

John Cena has spilled the details behind the shocking RKO he hit on AJ Styles at WWE Crown Jewel 2025, admitting the move wasn’t part of the script.

Cena and Styles traded finishers in a tribute-laden main event that ended with Cena picking up the victory. The bout came during Cena’s Farewell Tour, with the 49-year-old locking horns with The Phenomenal One inside the ring in Saudi Arabia on October 2, 2025.

What happened in the match?

Cena and Styles built their contest around nods to wrestling legends, swapping signature moves to honor their peers. The chemistry paid off with a crowd that wouldn’t let the moment end without an RKO chant. That forced Cena’s hand: he had Styles hit a clothesline first because he couldn’t physically land the 619 himself.

The finish came when Cena hit the RKO and followed with a pin to take the match. It capped a night where the two veterans turned the ring into a museum of wrestling history.

Why Cena called his 2025 heel turn a flop

On WWE Unreal Season 3, Cena called his heel turn at Elimination Chamber 2025 a misfire. “I was explaining that it was too boring, that it was too bad,” he said. He believed the crowd’s heat wasn’t aimed at his new persona but at WWE itself.

Cena admitted Hunter told him he was swinging too big. “I tried to put myself in the spot of why I’m making decisions, being coachable enough to pivot, and the audience is the show,” he added. The experiment ended when Cena reverted to babyface ahead of SummerSlam 2025.

How Cena’s Farewell Tour wrapped up

Cena’s final WWE match came against Gunther on the December 13, 2025 edition of Saturday Night’s Main Event. The Ring General forced Cena into retirement with an immediate-effect victory earlier in the year at the Royal Rumble Premium Live Event, and also defeated Styles at that same event.

The 17-time world champion bowed out with a record that still stands, though his 2025 heel run now sits in the rearview as a cautionary tale of overreach.