Cody Rhodes and Real Winners and Losers of WWE SummerSlam Night 2 2025 Match Card

While WWE SummerSlam 2025 ended with a bang on Night 1, Night 2 was a show that pushed the pace from the beginning, delivering plenty of action inside MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

Naomi stole the win from Rhea Ripley, catching her with a roll-up and a Handful of Tights after The Eradicator took down Iyo Sky with a super Riptide.

The Wyatt Sicks needed the full crew to survive in a wild six-team TLC match, but Joe Gacy and Dexter Lumis were still the last tandem standing to retain the WWE Tag Team Championships.

With an inadvertent assist late from Bayley, Becky Lynch took down Lyra Valkyria with a Manhandle Slam to keep her Women's Intercontinental Championship.

Solo Sikoa needed all of MFT to save him in his Steel Cage match against Jacob Fatu, while Dominik Mysterio outmaneuvered AJ Styles to walk out still intercontinental champion.

Cody Rhodes was the better man in the main event, dethroning John Cena to win his second Undisputed WWE Championship.

Sunday night delivered some shocking results that left clear winners and losers coming out of SummerSlam Night 2.

Winner: Naomi

It took over a year from her 2024 return in the women's Royal Rumble, but Naomi has found her place as a top heel in the women's division.

No match had more hype from the division going into SummerSlam than her Triple Threat title defense against Rhea Ripley and Iyo Sky.

After Ripley and Sky delivered one of the best WWE matches of the year, Naomi stole the World Heavyweight Championship from both of them at Evolution.

Money in the Bank briefcase cash-ins are often successful, but they rarely lead to long title reigns. Naomi could easily have lost at SummerSlam and fallen back into the middle of the pack.

Instead, she defeated arguably the best two women's wrestlers in the world today in front of more than 50,000 fans at MetLife Stadium, solidifying her reign.

She will move on to face the challenge of Stephanie Vaquer next at Clash in Paris, which again be a major test of how much WWE is committed to The Glow as a top heel.

If Naomi continues to deliver as a character, mic worker and in-ring performer like she did at SummerSlam, she could run with the gold for a while and seal her name among the best in the women's division.

Winners: The Wyatt Sicks

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The Wyatt Sicks had struggled to find a place on the WWE roster until the last few weeks on SmackDown.

However, Joe Gacy and Dexter Lumis captured the WWE Tag Team Championships and have pushed the entire tag team division to rally against them.

The fight descended into such anarchy that SmackDown general manager Nick Aldis announced a six-team TLC match for SummerSlam with the titles on the line.

It proved to be a wild spot-fest driven by the chaotic need for everyone involved to win the tag titles.

Anyone could have won without anyone losing anything from defeat, but WWE kept steady in pushing The Wyatt Sicks forward.

This should guarantee plenty of TV time for the group going forward and might set it up for more gold.

Loser: Lyra Valkyria

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Lyra Valkyria put everything on the line in her final match with Becky Lynch, where a win would get the Women's Intercontinental Championship back for her.

However, Sunday's loss means The Valkyrie can no longer challenge for the belt as long as The Man holds it.

All signs point to Lynch carrying that title for a while, which leaves Valkyria without a clear goal.

She could blame Bayley for her loss, but that will not change the result. A feud with The Role Model from this point on does not benefit her long-term goal of championship glory.

Valkyria should look back on SummerSlam with pride, though, as she and Lynch delivered another creative, physical match that further elevated the prestige of the new women's IC title.

The Valkyrie leaves this feud closer to world title contention than any other time in her career so far, and hopefully more opportunities are in her future.

Loser: Solo Sikoa

In one of the biggest matches of his career, Solo Sikoa walked out with a win but may have only reinforced the narrative around him.

His match with Jacob Fatu was uninspired, relying on the typical interference expected for most Steel Cage matches with factions involved.

The two did not do much in the ring before the interference took over, and Sikoa never looked like a real threat to The Samoan Werewolf.

Even after his win, the focus of the end of the segment was the defeated Fatu, who moonsaulted off the cage onto both Tonga Loa and JC Mateo.

It was a messy distraction from a night of solid action that made only Fatu look good but only as much as WWE has already pushed him to look unstoppable against most competition.

For Sikoa's sake, he needs to move away from this rivalry and let Fatu enter the upper midcard or main event scenes where he might be better challenged.

Loser: AJ Styles

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In the buildup to this match, AJ Styles had done everything in his power to set the stage for his victory over Dominik Mysterio and claim his second Intercontinental Championship.

He played mind games, defeated him in tag team action and sold himself as the more dangerous competitor in the ring.

However, the reason Styles made this feel so vital was because he has hinted he may not wrestle for much longer.

But none of that urgency was felt in Sunday's match with Mysterio where he could not come up with the right trick to match the champion.

In the end, Dirty Dom outplayed him, using his own boot as a distraction and a weapon to win.

This likely takes Styles out of title contention and may have ended The Phenomenal One's chances to stand out in every championship picture until his retirement.

The contest was mostly forgettable, which is even more disappointing when so much of Styles' legacy has been built on delivering in the ring no matter what.

Winner: Cody Rhodes

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At WrestleMania 40, Cody Rhodes established himself as the face of WWE with his victory over Roman Reigns.

At WrestleMania 41, the old guard returned to take him down. John Cena dethroned The American Nightmare and began his crusade to destroy the company he carried for so long.

Rhodes needed his redemption at SummerSlam, and he got it. He defeated Cena in a much better match than their WrestleMania clash.

The American Nightmare once more stands atop the business in WWE and will likely run with the Undisputed WWE Championship for a long time to come.

Rhodes will still need to reckon with a crowd that was heavily behind Cena over him, but he has plenty of time to win them back or turn heel as world champion.

Losers: Young Talent Dreaming of a Match with John Cena During His Retirement Tour

John Cena lost the Undisputed WWE Championship at SummerSlam with five months and about a dozen dates left on his retirement tour.

This set up an unpredictable final run that could have allowed a talented young roster to step up for one last shot at The GOAT.

Instead, Brock Lesnar has returned and will likely be the centerpiece of the final months for Cena.

The Beast Incarnate and Cena have fought countless times before, and spending multiple dates and at least one PLE on another contest helps no one on the active roster.

This especially feels true when Lesnar was gone from WWE for good before his shock return, and it could easily be argued he adds nothing of value at this stage.

Cena's heel turn and pivot back to face has also not helped anyone along the way, making it a story point that he was wasting dates intentionally with meandering promo segments.

Cena has spent significant time on return matches with CM Punk and Randy Orton already this year. Even the R-Truth angle was a repeat.

Besides Rhodes himself, no one has gotten over by working with Cena while LA Knight, Dominik Mysterio, Drew McIntyre, or even someone as underused as Carmelo Hayes, could have benefited from that time with The GOAT.

The final stage is on the horizon, and it looks no more promising than what has already been delivered.

WWE put all the focus on Cena vs. Lesnar over celebrating Rhodes' world title win and has established little for the rest of 2025.