Why John Cena Should Face Cody Rhodes In His Final WWE Match

John Cena has only a few WWE appearances left before retirement. His last match will take place at Saturday Night’s Main Event on December 13, 2025, at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. The opponent for his final match has not been announced yet.

Speaking on Sportskeeda Wrestling’s UnSKripted podcast, veteran journalist Bill Apter pitched Cena’s last opponent in WWE. He said Cody Rhodes would be an ideal candidate to retire the 17-time World Champion.

“They can make it out like it’s been a dream match for Cody Rhodes that before John Cena retires. (…) I am talking about for the retirement match. It’s Cody and Cena. Cody saying he wants to be the last guy. It’s his dream to wrestle John Cena in Cena’s farewell match.”

Cody Rhodes and John Cena went one-on-one at WrestleMania 41 on April 20, 2025, at Allegiant Stadium. Cena pinned Rhodes with some help from Travis Scott to win the Undisputed WWE Championship and broke the all-time world title record. They faced off again at SummerSlam 2025, where Rhodes pinned Cena to regain the Undisputed WWE title.

John Cena Will Face AJ Styles at Crown Jewel 2025

John Cena is scheduled to have a match with AJ Styles at Crown Jewel in Perth, Australia, on October 11, 2025. The match was not originally planned because Cena’s limited retirement tour dates did not align with the event. However, growing fan demand pushed WWE to reconsider. Cena himself used social media to campaign for a match with Styles, publicly tagging Triple H and referencing the popular desire to see their rivalry revisited one last time.

AJ Styles responded on social media, also expressing his desire for the match and stating he was ready whenever Cena was. The interaction was exclusively online; there were no in-ring promos, no face-to-face confrontations, and no standard WWE TV build. Finally, WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H made the match official via a post on X.