3-Time WWE Champion Wants To Hurt John Cena & End His Career

John Cena is nearing the end of his legendary WWE career, with only seven dates left on his 2025 retirement tour. His final match will take place on Saturday Night’s Main Event on December 13 in Washington, D.C.

Cena has had many rivals in his long WWE career, and one of the fiercest was Rusev. Their rivalry started at WWE Fastlane on February 22, 2015, when The Bulgarian Brute defeated John Cena for the US Title. The story centered on Cena’s American pride against Rusev’s Russian powerhouse persona, with Lana’s interference adding drama.

Major matches included WrestleMania 31, Extreme Rules’ Russian Chain bout, and Payback’s “I Quit” match. The theme was patriotism versus dominance, and it ended on May 17, 2015, at Payback, when Cena won and Rusev’s undefeated streak ended for good.

Rusev Wants To Face John Cena

The 3-time WWE United States Champion recently had an interview with Voxcatch where he was asked if he’d like to face John Cena one last time. He not only agreed to the match, but claimed that he’d end Cena and his career. He stated it would make sense because The Last Real Champion helped him kick-start his career in WWE, and he’ll end his for him.

“Oh, that would be absolutely yes, sir… Will I hurt him? Yes, sir. Will I beat him? Yes, sir. So maybe I’m not going to be an appropriate opponent for a farewell John Cena because you’re going to hurt him too much. That’s just what I do.”

“Well, I think he’s going to be a great passing of the torch if I just get to beat him. Uh, I mean, yeah, that would be a fantastic farewell for him, you know, because he started my career, now I can end his, which is going to be very appropriate and, and karma always strikes back, you know, at the end of the day.”

Rusev left WWE in 2020 due to budget cuts. He signed with AEW as Miro but left after his contract with the Jacksonville-based company expired in late 2023. He then returned to WWE on the Monday Night Raw after WrestleMania 41, 2025.