At Money in the Bank John Cena reappeared in a WWE ring for the first time since April post-WrestleMania 40. Fans were elated to see the 13-time World Champion but he had some important news to share with the fans. A few months back he explained that he’d love to put his Hollywood career on pause for one final run in the WWE, but fans couldn’t have predicted that now would be the time to do it. Cena revealed that the next year will mark his final year as a professional wrestler and he’s making it a “retirement tour” of sorts. To end his speech he addressed the locker room letting them know that if they want a match, now is the time.
This prompted several wrestlers past and present to put out their bid to face Cena in the ring before he hangs up his boots for good. One of those names includes TNA’s Joe Hendry who believes that he will face him sooner than later. Outside of a few matches in the early days of his career he’s been in WWE for the entirety of his career and hasn’t really been able to explore those “dream” matches with outside promotions. Some of his past opponents have come forward as well, including WWE Hall of Famer Rob Van Dam.
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Rob Van Dam Wants One Last Match with John Cena
Van Dam and Cena have worked together on several occasions throughout their careers but perhaps one of the most memorable matches of his career took place in the Hammerstein Ballroom. The iconic venue housed many wrestling shows in its walls, mostly recently GCW in 2022. “I hope they bring me in for a rematch with Cena, that’d be super cool,” Van Dam said on the 1 Of A Kind podcast in regards to their ECW One Night Stand match in 2006. “I know I could still do that same match. Absolutely.”
“[Cena’s] been the top guy for a long time,” he continued. “When I worked with him, he was in that position. It was obvious why he was in that position. He was really, really good at feeling the crowd, interacting with the crowd … He knew going out there that he was going to be up against a crowd that hated him. Really the vocal, physical, most opinionated crowd ever. But he was ready for it, and he handled it great, and I enjoyed working with him” (h/t: Wrestling Inc.).
The last time they faced each other was in 2014 at a WWE Live event in a multi-man match against The Wyatt Family. Van Dam is still actively wrestling, his latest match being in April when he went up against Isiah Kassidy and Komander and Lee Johnson in AEW. Cena outlined his plans for the future, including why 2025 is the perfect year for him to hang up his boots for good.
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