Cody Rhodes finished his story, now it's time for John Cena to finish the story that began at the Royal Rumble, if he wants to be WWE's last real World Heavyweight Champion. In his 17th World Championship reign, Cena declared to ruin wrestling by erasing the lineage of the WWE championship. In the same breath, he promised to be WWE's last real World Champion, but one plot hole stands in his way.

Jey Uso's reign as World Heavyweight Champion puts a big asterisk and plot hole in John Cena's WWE Championship reign. The idea of Cena being WWE's last World Champion sounds redundant when there's another World Champion on the opposite brand. Suddenly, the Undisputed WWE Champion's reign of terror can be disputed. The best way to really finish this story would be for John Cena to rekindle the story with Uso that began at the Royal Rumble earlier this year.

The Last Real Champion—Or Just One of Two?

John Cena's "Last Real Champion" Claim Has a Contradiction

Following his promise to ruin wrestling by taking the WWE Championship and its legacy away when his retirement tour ends, there's an urgency for his opponents to defeat him for the title before the tour is over. In theory, there should be stakes to all of his matches as a result, but those stakes are minimized when readers that Raw has another World Champion named Jey Uso. Even if Cena does take the belt and its legacy with him when he retires, there's still Jey Uso's belt to fight for.

The modern iteration of the World Heavyweight Championship was introduced after WrestleMania 39 to compensate for Undisputed WWE Champion Roman Reigns' new part-time schedule.

Of course, this is not as historically significant as the WWE Championship, as the World Heavyweight Championship's lineage only dates as far back as 2023, but it still gives the roster a title to wrestle for in Cena's absence. John Cena continues to point out in his promos that WWE could hypothetically create a new title in his absence and vacate the WWE Championship, but there's almost no need to do even that when there's still one World Title to fight for after. The existence of another World Title and Jey Uso's reign contradicts Cena's claim to be the Last Real World Champion.

Why the Royal Rumble Matters Now More Than Ever

A Puzzling Ending Could Suddenly Become Really Relevant

It's interesting that Jey Uso's World Heavyweight Championship reign is the obstacle standing in the way of John Cena's WWE Championship reign, considering that last January, Uso was the last obstacle in Cena's attempt to become a 17-time World Champion. Both men were the last two competitors in the Men's Royal Rumble match. In previous promos, Cena promised that this would not only be his last Rumble, but potentially his last chance to main event WrestleMania and become a champion one more time. In the story, Cena's elimination can be framed as the catalyst for his heel turn the following month.

Cena would march down to the post-show press conference and declare himself as a participant in the Elimination Chamber match without needing to qualify. In his words, he needed to win his 17th World Championship because this was what was "best for business." In his desperation, he'd sell his soul to The Rock and finally turn heel, but it's often overlooked that this entire domino effect spun from Jey Uso's Royal Rumble match win. Whether it was intentional in storyline or not, Jey is the reason John Cena is a heel now, and no one is holding him able for it. The door is still open to explore that element of the story.

Orton’s Legacy and the Fallout of a Frozen Title

Analyzing John Cena's Promo on "Freezing" Randy Orton's Legacy

Jey Uso's World Heavyweight Championship reign isn't just weighing on John Cena's reign as WWE Champion, but his storylines as well. Most notably, on the April 25 episode of Friday Night SmackDown, the champ and his Backlash challenger had a promo confrontation, one where Cena made a bold claim against Randy Orton regarding his legacy as a 14-time World Champion. In a bold retort, Cena would tell The Viper the following:

After I take this [WWE Championship] home, you will forever be frozen at 14. They'll create some tinfoil title and decide a champion. If you're lucky to ever get hands on it, your counter starts over at one, you babbling moron.

While a new title doesn't necessarily reset Orton's entire legacy, that point is mute when Cena's overall claim is that Orton needs a real World Title to boost his record. Jey Uso's title is a real World Title that has been defended globally. If Orton loses to Cena and still really wants another world title reign, he can always challenge Jey on the other show. It's the same logic as calling it the Undisputed World Title when there's another World Title on the other show. Cena's claims are as disputed as his title.

The Case for a WWE World Title Unification Feud

John Cena vs. Jey Uso in a WWE Title Unification Could Be WWE's Best Next Move

John Cena acts as if he is WWE's sole World Champion and the roster is entirely dependent on his belt for the brand's legacy to thrive, but that clearly isn't the case. Jey Uso and his World Heavyweight Championship are causing a big problem for the story WWE is trying to tell for Cena, and it's a problem that's been overlooked for too long. It's just as hard to believe that a character as prideful as "Main Event" Jey Uso could hear John Cena call himself WWE's Last Real World Champion and just let it slide.

The best way to correct this would be for Cena to challenge and unify the World Titles. The prospect would be interesting for a number of reasons, including following up on their history from the Royal Rumble match. Even better, on a base level, it's a story where Jey Uso, who makes wrestling "fun" for the thousands of people chanting YEET! in the arenas, is pitted against someone who wants to kill the fun of wrestling. While this would be a very difficult story to develop correctly for WWE, John Cena vs. Jey Uso could simply be what is best for business.