6 Potential John Cena Matches for WWE WrestleMania 40

John Cena's most recent return to WWE can't be considered anything but a blessing for the fans.

It marked his longest stint with the company in several years and saw him appear regularly on SmackDown and compete on back-to-back pay-per-views. His last match to date saw him go down decisively to Solo Sikoa at Crown Jewel and tease hanging up his boots for good.

Despite WWE teasing retirement for the 16-time world champion, it's safe to assume his iconic career isn't over just yet.

He's accomplished it all in the last 20-plus years, but there's plenty of fresh faces on the Raw, SmackDown and NXT rosters he has yet to mix it up with.

There's been no word on when he intends to return again, though the SAG-AFSTRA strike coming to an end likely means he won't be back for the foreseeable future.

If he is able to clear up his busy Hollywood schedule around WrestleMania 40 season, these are the six opponents who would make the most sense for him to square off with on The Grandest Stage of Them All.

Solo Sikoa

Based on the dominant fashion in which Solo Sikoa defeated Cena at Crown Jewel 2023 and Paul Heyman's promo addressing it on Friday's SmackDown, it would make the most sense for Cena to rekindle his rivalry with Sikoa upon his inevitable return.

Cena and Sikoa teased crossing paths as soon as Cena resurfaced on SmackDown in early September, Although he and LA Knight were able to best The Bloodline in a tag team match at Fastlane, the 16-time world champ wasn't able to repeat the feat when they went one-on-one at Crown Jewel.

It was an effective way of putting Sikoa over as the next big thing while also teasing retirement for Cena.

Of course, no one should believe for a single second that Cena is legitimately done, and when Cena comes back, he has a ready-made story with Sikoa, potentially at WrestleMania 40.

It isn't imperative WWE revisit this rivalry, but it would be bizarre for Cena to not want revenge for the multi-generation star attempting to put him out to pasture.

Bron Breakker

NXT's Bron Breakker finds himself in a holding pattern at the moment while he awaits his overdue call-up to the main roster.

Since dropping the NXT Championship to Carmelo Hayes back in April, he has racked up several losses but has also made great strides in the heel role. That includes his confrontation with Cena from the highly-touted October 10 edition of NXT that went head-to-head with AEW Dynamite.

Cena gave Breakker a pep talk of sorts and attempted to hit him with an Attitude Adjustment, but to no avail. There was no payoff later on in the episode when Breakker battled Hayes with Cena in his corner, leading fans to wonder whether it was designed to plant seeds for a future bout between the two.

Although Breakker isn't a Raw or SmackDown Superstar quite yet, nothing is stopping WWE from bringing him up in time for WrestleMania 40. If so, Cena would be a fitting first obstacle for him to overcome and prove himself against.

Breakker would make a massive impact by targeting the former franchise player from the get-go.

Gunther

Gunther has steamrolled through the SmackDown and Raw rosters during his 500-plus day reign as Intercontinental champion and there's no end in sight.

If he craves true competition, he'd welcome a challenge from a fresh opponent such as Cena, someone he has yet to interact with in any capacity.

What would make a matchup between the two even more interesting is how the Intercontinental Championship is one of WWE's only major titles Cena has yet to win. In fact, not winning it has prevented him from being recognized as a Triple Crown or Grand Slam champion.

The company has never incorporated that into a storyline, but it isn't too late to do just that.

All signs to Gunther having some sort of marquee match at 'Mania next April, though it's unknown whether he'll still be in prestigious prize by then or focusing on bigger and better things. If his historic run isn't over by then, Cena would be an exciting adversary for him at The Show of Shows.

Of course, Cena winning wouldn't be ideal, but the idea of one more title run for him—no matter how brief–could be intriguing, not to mention that Gunther benefits simply from sharing the ring with him.

Grayson Waller

One of Cena's more random returns to WWE in recent years occurred at Money in the Bank 2023 when he resurfaced for a segment with Grayson Waller.

Cena started off by embracing the electric crowd in London that night and lobbying for a future WrestleMania to be brought to the city before being interrupted by Waller. Their verbal exchanged ended with Waller attacking Cena and enduring an Attitude Adjustment courtesy of Cena.

Waller went on to welcome Cena onto The Grayson Waller Effect months later, but their bad blood never led to a one-on-one match. While it may not be WrestleMania-worthy on paper, it might be an easy way to get Cena on the card without having to build it up too much in advance.

Cena already has history with Waller's tag partner Austin Theory, so having the two trash-talk Cena in the weeks preceding WrestleMania to set up the clash would allow Cena to miss a majority of the road to 'Mania if he isn't able to appear due to other obligations.

A competitive match would be fun, but a straightforward squash to give Cena his first singles win on pay-per-view in nearly six years would also suffice.

Finn Bálor

Amazingly, a formal feud has alluded Cena and Finn Bálor for the past seven years, and WrestleMania would be an appropriate time for them to finally face off.

That isn't to say they haven't had their fair share of interactions, however. The first-and-only singles match in 2018 saw Cena emerge victorious, though Cena did lose to Bálor in a Fatal 4-Way on a January 2019 episode of Raw before putting him over in a promo afterward.

In July 2021, Bálor was slated to face Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship at SummerSlam, but Cena swooped in before Bálor could sign the contact and stole his spot on the show. Bálor got his opportunity the following month at Extreme Rules, but his issue with Cena was never resolved.

By WrestleMania 40, a majority of fans would have forgotten about that, but everyone in Judgment Day would be a fresh face for Cena to work with. It would give them a top name to be paired up with during 'Mania season and Cena vs. Bálor sells itself from an in-ring standpoint.

Bálor's past WrestleMania opponents include Seth Rollins, The Miz, Bobby Lashley and Edge, so adding Cena to that illustrious list would be a nice feather in his cap, if nothing else.

Logan Paul

Logan Paul made it quite clear on his Impaulsive podcast last November that his ultimate match in WWE would be against Cena, and WrestleMania 39 was his desired date for it.

Obviously, the company went in different directions with both men instead, but the door is surely still open for that contest to come to fruition eventually. WrestleMania would be the perfect place to host such an attraction.

The social media megastar capturing the United States Championship at Crown Jewel raises the stakes considering everything Cena did to raise the prestige of that star-spangled prize at two pivotal points in his career.

To an extent, it'd basically be a repeat of what Cena did at 'Mania this year with Austin Theory, but this has the potential to be a much bigger bout given the star power involved. If anyone can bring the best out of elder-statesmen Cena, it's the exceptionally athletic (and easily detestable) Logan Paul.

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Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, has specialized in sports and entertainment writing since 2010. Visit his website, WrestleRant, and subscribe to his YouTube channel for more wrestling-related content.