Big Match John is returning to the ring. John Cena is set to wrestle his first match since April next month at WWE Superstar Spectacle in India, his first time competing in the country. Cena has been largely inactive this decade, only wrestling a handful of matches since the 2020s began. After a cinematic bout in April 2020, Cena took 16 months off from WWE before returning in July 2021. This kicked off a “Summer of Cena” live event tour that saw the 16-time world champion compete in various non-televised tag matches before working a main event contest against WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns at WWE SummerSlam 2021. Cena’s most recent match came at WWE WrestleMania 39 in a ten-minute, critically-panned contest against then-WWE United States Champion Austin Theory.
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With Cena’s in-ring return less than one month away, here are five possible stars the You Can’t See Me man could realistically square off against.
Austin Theory
Cena’s first order of business could be righting the wrong that was this feud with Austin Theory.
With just one promo segment between the two going into SoFi Stadium, Cena put an immense amount of pressure on the young upstart that he has failed to live up to. Theory did get the victory at WWE WrestleMania 39 but did so by cheating. Since then, Theory’s summer has been largely criticized by fans, something that WWE must have been hearing as he recently lost his WWE United States Title in sudden fashion.
Seeing the wonders that a clean victory over Cena can do for a career, just look at Kevin Owens and AJ Styles, Theory beating Cena decisively could course-correct his WWE career. That, or Cena could get the win back at WWE Superstar Spectacle, laying the groundwork for a culminating third bout down the road.
Grayson Waller
While Cena has not wrestled since April, his last WWE appearance was just this past July.
Cena popped up at WWE Money in the Bank to champion London as being worthy of a future WWE WrestleMania. This rallying cry was interrupted by Grayson Waller, a fresh NXT call-up to the WWE SmackDown roster, who proceeded to hold his own on the microphone with the face that formerly ran the place.
As evident by his main roster debut match coming against WWE Hall of Famer Edge inside Madison Square Garden, it’s clear that WWE has big plans for the Aussie superstar. Paying off this speaking segment with Cena in a premium live event match seems like the perfect next step in this blossoming feud.
Cody Rhodes
Another segment awaiting an in-ring payoff comes in the form of Cody Rhodes. This past March, Cena endorsed Rhodes ahead of WWE WrestleMania 39 when he raised the American Nightmare’s arm on Monday Night Raw. Before this, the two exchanged words that weren’t picked up on camera but were eventually revealed by Rhodes himself: Cody wants a match.
Cena has admitted his full-time days are in the rear view, meaning every one of his future matches should mean something. There aren’t many bigger untapped matches for Cena left than Rhodes. With Rhodes being positioned as the company’s top babyface for the foreseeable future, getting the rub from the last “guy” would only cement that status further.
Dominik Mysterio
While all of the names so far would specifically benefit from a win over Cena, one name would reap rewards just by standing in the ring with him: Dominik Mysterio.
“Dirty” Dom has been wrestling’s breakout star of 2023 and it isn’t particularly close. This time last year, Dominik was arguably the blandest babyface on WWE’s roster. Today, he is the most hated heel in the company.
Analyzing this potential match from a behind the scenes perspective, Dominik would be Cena’s safest opponent. While the other guys on this list are by no means dangerous in the ring, they would require a decent work rate to get the most out of a Cena match. In this specific match, Dominik and Cena could spend the majority of time playing to the crowd and using simple moves to elicit big reactions.
LA Knight
Yeah.
While Rhodes is WWE’s top babyface, he has essentially already gleaned enough to be on that level. LA Knight on the other hand, WWE’s hottest star, could be launched into true megastardom with a win over Cena.
Cena and Knight trading verbal barbs on the microphone alone would be a sight to see, and a proper one-week build could make this a must-see. Beyond that, it’s now or never when it comes to Knight vs. Cena. The 40-year-old Knight is no blossoming rookie, and WWE realistically has to strike while the iron is not just hot, but still full-time healthy.
Theory already has a victory over Cena. Waller has his entire career ahead of him. Rhodes has been legitimized as the top babyface for months now. Dominik’s heel heat can’t crescendo much more. No one benefits more from a Cena match right now than LA Knight, and that is not an insult, just a fact of life.
WWE Superstar Spectacle goes down on Friday, September 8th.
