WWE Announce Huge Opening Match Of WrestleMania 39

There might be uncertainty over which match will headline WrestleMania 39 – at least on night one – but we now know which match will kick off the whole event as John Cena returns to action.

When John Cena confronted Austin Theory a few weeks ago, he initially declined Theory’s proposal for a match at WrestleMania. Cena argued that Theory wasn’t good enough, that he had neither a heart nor a soul, and that all the opportunities that Theory was given didn’t lead to anything.

Theory persisted and tried to spin Cena’s refusal as an act of cowardice and a betrayal of his principles of “hustle, loyalty, and respect”. Eventually, Cena accepted but warned Austin Theory that he just made the biggest mistake of his life.

WWE has now revealed that Theory’s mistake will kick off WrestleMania weekend in huge fashion as he faces John Cena with his United States Championship on the line.

The only other time John Cena opened a WrestleMania show was at his very first one in 2004 when he defeated The Big Show in the first match of the night at WrestleMania 20 to capture the US Championship – an ominous omen for the defending champion.

The confirmed card for both nights of WrestleMania can be found below with WWE also announcing the Andre The Giant Battle Royal will return on the SmackDown before the show –

• Roman Reigns (c) vs. Cody Rhodes – Undisputed WWE Universal Championship
• Charlotte Flair (c) vs. Rhea Ripley – SmackDown Women’s Championship
• Bianca Belair (c) vs. Asuka – Raw Women’s Championship
• The Usos (Jey Uso and Jimmy Uso) (c) vs. Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn – Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship
• Brock Lesnar vs. Omos
• Gunther (c) vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Sheamus – WWE Intercontinental Championship
• Trish Stratus, Lita, and Becky Lynch vs. Damage CTRL (Bayley, Dakota Kai, and Iyo Sky)
• Edge vs. Finn Balor – Hell in a Cell
• Liv Morgan and Raquel Rodriguez vs. Natalya and Shotzi vs. Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler vs. TBD – WrestleMania Showcase fatal four-way tag team match
• Braun Strowman and Ricochet vs. The Street Profits (Angelo Dawkins and Montez Ford) vs. Alpha Academy (Chad Gable and Otis) vs. The Viking Raiders (Erik and Ivar) – WrestleMania Showcase fatal four-way tag team match
• Rey Mysterio vs. Dominik Mysterio
• Austin Theory (c) vs. John Cena – WWE United States Championship
• Seth Rollins vs. Logan Paul