John Cena's Potential WWE WrestleMania 39 Opponent Speaks Out

By Connor Casey

John Cena will compete at WrestleMania 39 according to a report that dropped earlier this week, and now the speculation begins over who his opponent will be. While Austin Theory has been quite vocal about getting a match with his childhood hero, fans have started pushing another idea online — have him challenge Gunther for the WWE Intercontinental Championship. Not only is Gunther's anti-American stance (he has proclaimed multiple times that an American will never win the IC title again) a perfect foil for Cena's patriotic persona, but Gunther's style would provide a much more physical match than what Cena typically delivers.

"The Ring General" was asked about the idea in a new interview with NBC Sports Boston, saying (h/t WrestlingNews.co), "Of course, we could see it. I don't know what's going to happen or if it's going to happen. Obviously, that's something I would love to do. John Cena is one of the legends. Because he's not really active at the moment anymore, he just pops up, but when he does, if the chance is there for me, I'll gladly take it. One of, if not the most popular babyface in this sport of all time. I think I would be a great counterpart to that. I would love to do it."

When Will John Cena Retire From WWE?

Cena's acting career has caused his in-ring presence in WWE to dwindle over the years, to the point where 2022 will be the first year since his debut in 2002 that Cena won't compete in at least one match. He talked with Chris Hardwick last year about his thoughts on when he'll officially retire. 

"To challenge myself as a 44-year-old to go back, there is an Intrinsic challenge there, a set of circumstances. That's a good challenge in many ways. My body could tell me after this extended stay, 'dude, you're done' or it could tell me, 'You're so far from done it's crazy.' That's another interesting conversation with myself. If physically, I'm slower, I've said openly to everyone that I will keep doing this until I feel I'm offending the customer. I will continually go out there and do what I can to contribute and add," Cena said.

"I don't want to go out there and be like, 'Okay, just let him go out there and (do his thing).' I'm not into that because I know what it's like to pay for a ticket," he added. "If I were to get that on this go-round, it's a humbling and tough thing that I will have to hurdle. If I get the opposite and it's like, 'You're quicker and can do some things better and define a new personality,' then that's a new conversation because I do not have much time left and if I want to give it like, 'let's really commit to this thing and really go all in,' that's an honest choice where other stuff will have to take a backseat."

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