WWE already identified top star as John Cena's replacement, reveals Seth Rollins

WWE saw a top star as John Cena's replacement in the promotion, according to Seth Rollins. The Franchise Player retired from in-ring competition at the weekend , having wrestled his final match at Saturday Night's Main Event.

His departure does leave a void in the company, and fans will be eager to see who steps up to replace him. While WWE is brimming with a lot of talent at its disposal, they may have identified Cena's replacement a few years ago.

During an appearance on Games with Names, former World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins revealed that WWE brought back Cody Rhodes in 2022 with the hope that he would eventually replace Cena.

"He had done his due diligence while he was gone to get himself to a position where when we brought him back he was ready to be kind of one of the top acts in the company... When he did leave, he was not that guy, and top brass didn't see him as that guy. So, he was coming back in a position where hopefully they were hoping that they could groom him to be in the John Cena position," he said.

Rhodes left WWE in 2016 and started building himself on the independents. He overhauled his look and started getting over with the fans. He worked in Ring of Honor, TNA, and NJPW before the launch of AEW in 2019 propelled him to further stardom.

However, he would return to WWE at WrestleMania 38 and face Seth Rollins. Since his return, he has been booked as a top star and is a two-time Royal Rumble winner and the current WWE Champion. His presentation by the company mirrors closely what they did with John Cena as the face of the company in the mid-2000s.

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Cody Rhodes beat John Cena to win the WWE Championship for a second time

Cody Rhodes was a key component of John Cena's final WWE run. Cena shockingly turned heel at Elimination Chamber this year, attacking Rhodes.

He then went on to beat the American Nightmare at WrestleMania 41 to win a record 17th WWE World Championship.

The two stars met again, this time at SummerSlam, and both of them were babyfaces. A gruelling Street Fight eventually saw Rhodes prevail and win the WWE Championship for a second time in his career.

After the match, the Never Seen 17 handed over the Title to Rhodes in a passing of the torch moment, cementing him as the next face of the company.

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If you use quotes from this article, please credit Games with Names and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.