John Cena and The Rock took center stage in WWE’s stunning Elimination Chamber 2025 finale. (WWE/Getty Images)

(WWE via Getty Images)

Two more tickets were punched for WrestleMania 41 after John Cena and Bianca Belair won the men’s and women’s Elimination Chamber matches, but the in-ring action took a back seat to the stunning closing segment at the Rogers Centre in Toronto on Saturday night.

In one of the biggest twists in WWE history, Cena turned heel for the first time in his career as Rhodes rejected Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s request for his proverbial soul. It turns out “The Final Boss” had a contingency plan, as Cena, The Rock and Travis Scott brutalized Rhodes, meaning the future WWE Hall of Famer’s retirement tour will see him work heel as he heads for an Undisputed WWE Championship match against Rhodes at WrestleMania 41.

Bianca Belair celebrates her win during WWE Elimination Chamber at Rogers Centre on March 1, 2025 in Toronto, Canada. (Georgiana Dallas/WWE via Getty Images)

(WWE via Getty Images)

On the women’s side, Belair emerged victorious and will face either Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley or Iyo Sky at WrestleMania 41. That wasn’t the only major takeaway from the night’s opening contest, as Jade Cargill made her surprising return and viciously attacked Naomi — who replaced Cargill as Belair’s tag-team partner.

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There were two other matches on the card, with Kevin Owens beating Sami Zayn in an unsanctioned match that serves as the latest entry in a decades-long rivalry between the two frenemies and featured the return of Randy Orton upon its conclusion. In a comparatively inconsequential matchup, WWE Women’s Champion Tiffany Stratton teamed up with the legendary Trish Stratus to beat Nia Jax and Candice LeRae.

Here are the full results of Saturday’s Elimination Chamber.

• Best spot: Morgan and Belair chain-countering finishers
• Analysis: From start to finish, you’d be hard-pressed to find anything wrong with the opening Elimination Chamber match. I thought it was a phenomenal decision to book Jade Cargill’s return the way WWE did, which potentially opens the door for her to be the newest member of Judgment Day, a possibility that has been teased over the past few weeks on “WWE Raw.” Belair vs. Rhea Ripley or Iyo Sky (or both) will have extremely high expectations heading into WrestleMania 41, but considering the names involved, I’m betting it’ll be an instant classic. There’s a good chance we’ll see Perez and Bayley continue their feud while there are relatively clear slates for both Morgan and Bliss moving forward.

WWE Women’s Champion Tiffany Stratton and Trish Stratus def. Nia Jax and Candice LeRae in 11:40.

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• Best spot: Stratton’s 2nd Prettiest Moonsault Ever
• Analysis: I hope Tiffany Stratton isn’t involved in any spots like she was with the initially countered Prettiest Moonsault Ever on Saturday. Maybe it looked worse on TV than it actually was, but too much can go wrong on the top rope like that. Otherwise, this match was inconsequential. We know where we’re going with Stratton vs. Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania 41, and Trish Stratus was a hometown play more than something long-term. Nia Jax and Candice LeRae work well as a tag team and Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez need challengers, so I suspect that’s where we’ll head next.

Kevin Owens def. Sami Zayn in 27:35

• Best spot: Blue Thunder Bomb onto the barbed-wire chair
• Analysis: It took a long time for this match to get goin, and although there was plenty of violence throughout, things seemed a bit dead early on. These generally aren’t my favorite types of matches (especially ending with stretchers involved), but as the match reached its crescendo, you really saw the art and storytelling of professional wrestling shine through the brutal reality of Owens vs. Zayn. The lighting — purposeful due to the “unsanctioned” nature of the match — took away from the overall atmosphere, hence my A grade instead of A+. Zayn is almost certainly going to be off television for a while and Randy Orton’s return locks in Owens for the foreseeable future.

John Cena def. CM Punk, Seth Rollins, Logan Paul, Damian Priest and Drew McIntyre in 32:40

• Best spot: Cena vs. Punk sharing the ring again
• Analysis: With the exception of Logan Paul, everyone has a clear program coming out of the Elimination Chamber and heading into WrestleMania 41. Damian Priest and Drew McIntyre are likely to feud on “WWE SmackDown,” CM Punk and Rollins isn’t finished on “WWE Raw” (with the possible addition of Roman Reigns at a later date), and, well … we’ll get into John Cena in just a minute. The action here was very solid, even if it was a notch below the women’s Chamber match in my opinion. Seeing Cena and Punk share a ring — and even team up — again was dialing back the clock 15 years to when they created the defining rivalry within WWE. Although it was relatively unlikely that McIntyre, Priest or Paul were going to win, all three remain wildly underrated.

Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes answers “The Final Boss” and John Cena turns heel

• Analysis: John Cena is a heel. I’m not sure much more needs to be said here because that statement is stunning enough on its own. After 20-plus years, Cena’s entire character and persona will undergo a major change. For a certain generation of fans, Elimination Chamber 2025 becomes their Bash at the Beach 1996 or the June 2, 2014 “WWE Raw.” Rhodes vs. Cena is a LOCK for the main event of Night 2 of WrestleMania 41 and it’s going to be an epic build considering the swerve we just got.