WWE Adds Tagline To John Cena-Randy Orton Backlash Match
The John Cena-Randy Orton match at WWE Backlash is being promoted with an interesting tagline.
There is a long-standing history between John Cena and Randy Orton that dates back 25 years to when they were signed to WWE developmental deals and wrestled at OVW in those days.
Both men got called up to the main roster around the same time in 2002, and they went on to win a combined 31 WWE World Titles in their careers. Cena has 17 of those WWE Titles, while Orton has 14 of them.
Their rivalry of matches in WWE started at SummerSlam 2007 and continued for the next decade. Many of those matches, both televised and non-televised, were for the WWE or World Heavyweight Title. Many of those matches also featured Cena as the babyface and Orton as the heel, but their roles are now reversed.
At WWE Backlash on May 10th, John Cena will defend the Undisputed WWE Title against Randy Orton in Orton’s hometown of St. Louis. While Cena losing the title in his first defense seems unlikely, Cena does have some title reigns that lasted two weeks or less in his career.
After winning the WWE Title from Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 41, John Cena has said he’s going to be the last real WWE Champion, and he has told the world that he will retire at the end of the year as the champion. With four months down in 2025, Cena has eight months to go to make that prediction true.
To add even more intrigue to the Cena-Orton match at Backlash, WWE is advertising it as “One Last Time,” implying that it will likely be the last match Cena has with Orton, as Cena is retiring at the end of the year.
Randy Orton Knew That John Cena Was Special Early In Their Careers
Before this year’s WrestleMania 41 event, Randy Orton told a story about how he knew John Cena was going to be a big deal in WWE. This story goes back to their WWE developmental days in OVW from over two decades ago.
“In WWE developmental, there was this guy named BJ Payne. Jim Cornette wanted BJ to cut a promo on the spot, in front of everybody. BJ, bless his heart, kind of just stood there for a second, cat had his tongue. And right then and there, Cena stood up and just cut a promo.
It was storytelling 101. We were on the edge of our seat like, ‘Oh, this guy is really f**king special.’ That was the first time I realized, ‘Oh man, I’m going to know this guy for the rest of my life.’”
The next WWE PLE is Backlash on May 10th in St. Louis. Here’s the lineup so far:
* Undisputed WWE Championship: John Cena vs. Randy Orton
* Women’s Intercontinental Championship: Lyra Valkyria vs. Becky Lynch
* Gunther vs. Pat McAfee
A match between Jey Uso defending the World Heavyweight Title against Logan Paul is likely as well, but it’s not official yet.
You can watch WWE Backlash, streaming live on Peacock in the U.S. and Netflix internationally from St. Louis at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT.