At one point, it looked like Orton had the match won as he prepared to punt kick Cena in the head. However, a distraction from R-Truth – protecting his ‘childhood hero’ – ultimately proved costly.
Now, despite providing an assist, R-Truth was put through a table by Cena in shocking scenes in the post-match news conference just seconds after the champion promised to conduct himself in a professional manner.
Elsewhere, Gunther made Pat McAfee – an announcer – pass out in his sleeper submission hold following an entertaining bout. The former WWE World Heavyweight champion was clearly impressed with his opponent as he offered a rare show of respect after the match.
Dominik Mysterio is still the WWE Intercontinental champion after beating Penta, while Lyra Valkyria got the better of Becky Lynch in an outstanding WWE Women’s Intercontinental championship showdown.
Despite getting the win though, Valkyria was brutally attacked by Lynch after the bell which suggests the issue between these two Irishwomen is far from over.
The night started with another successful title defence as Jacob Fatu beat LA Knight, Damian Priest and Drew McIntyre in a fatal four way match for the WWE United States championship.
Fatu, however, was in a spot of bother until Solo Sikoa made the save by pushing him off the announce table and luring Knight into an attack from Jeff Cobb making his shocking WWE debut.
That interference ultimately helped Fatu pin Knight in the middle of the ring, though the United States champion didn’t seem too happy about the help from Cobb.
WWE Backlash 2025 results
John Cena def. Randy Orton: Undisputed WWE championship match
Lyra Valkyria def. Becky Lynch: WWE Women’s Intercontinental championship match
Jacob Fatu def. LA Knight, Damian Priest and Drew McIntyre: WWE United States championship match
Dominik Mysterio def. Penta: WWE Intercontinental championship match