WWE Considered Multiple Opponents For John Cena At WrestleMania

He may know he’s locked in for a contest with Austin Theory at WrestleMania 39, but the outlook in Hollywood could have been very different for John Cena.

John Cena looks to become a six-time United States Champion when he takes on current title holder Austin Theory at this year’s WrestleMania. The pair are set to kick off the first night of this year’s ‘Showcase Of The Immortals’, and whilst there has been plenty of verbal sparring ahead of the contest it has been noted that the champion has a lot of respect for what Cena has done to help the careers of younger talent.

However, a new report from Fightful Select has indicated that WWE considered a number of different opponents for Cena, dating as far back as the middle of 2022.

Austin Theory ended up getting the spot, but several wrestlers had been pushing to work with John Cena. Dating back to last Summer, there was top level talent in WWE who were angling to work with Cena on the WrestleMania show. We’re told that several talent that got wind of Cena being planned for WrestleMania, and open to what will be his first WrestleMania singles match in front of a live crowd since 2018.

At one point, there were actually people within WWE who were pushing for Cody Rhodes to face John Cena, even though by August, it was pretty well determined that Cody would be facing Roman Reigns. Logan Paul was considered for John Cena, and even tentatively planned as of the fall according to internal WWE documents. There was nothing on the slate for Austin Theory as of that point, but as of December, WWE had nailed down Theory vs. Cena, and shortly after finalized Rollins vs. Logan Paul. This year will be his Cena’s singles match at WrestleMania in front of a live crowd that was promoted ahead of time since Rusev.

Another traditional part of the WrestleMania festivities is the Hall Of Fame Ceremony, and John Cena recently named which members of the elite class he enjoyed sharing a drink with.