John Cena vs. AJ Styles Set for WWE Crown Jewel Amid Criticism of Brock Lesnar Feud

WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H announced Tuesday that John Cena will face AJ Styles at Crown Jewel in Perth, Australia, on Oct. 11 in one of the final matches of Cena's career.

Cena has only a handful of appearances remaining on his WWE retirement tour, and he made it clear Tuesday that he wants one of his final matches to be against one of his greatest rivals.

On Monday, shortly before the start of WWE Raw, Cena took to X and posted, "#CenavsStyles. Thoughts?"

Not surprisingly, the idea of Cena vs. AJ Styles one last time generated a ton of positive feedback from fans, which prompted Cena to follow up Tuesday:

Cena noted that while he does not choose his opponents, he takes pride in listening to the fans, so he appealed to Styles and Triple H, seemingly in hopes of making the match happen.

It wasn't long before Styles responded, with The Phenomenal One expressing interest in doing the match as well:

At Wrestlepalooza this past weekend, Cena faced Brock Lesnar in what was largely a one-sided match.

Competing in his first WWE bout in two years, Lesnar dominated out of the gate before Cena mounted a bit of a comeback. However, The Beast Incarnate stopped him in his tracks and beat Cena by pinfall after hitting him several times with the F-5.

The social media reaction from fans to the Cena vs. Lesnar match seemed primarily negative due both to the desire to see Cena win and the fact that the match played out like many of the matches Cena and Lesnar had against each other in the past.

It is believed that Cena's only remaining dates are Crown Jewel next month, two episodes of Raw in November, Survivor Series and Saturday Night's Main Event in December, the latter of which would be the venue for his final match.

There was perhaps some thought among fans that the Lesnar match was a waste of one of Cena's last matches, but WWE can quickly build some goodwill with the fans by giving them Cena vs. Styles, which is arguably the most requested match of Cena's farewell tour.

From 2016 to 2018, Cena and Styles had four televised singles matches against each other, and they are widely regarded as some of the best matches of Cena's career.

Styles beat Cena at Money in the Bank 2016, followed by Styles winning again at SummerSlam 2016. However, Cena scored the victory at Royal Rumble 2017 and on the Feb. 27, 2018, episode of SmackDown.

The Money in the Bank, SummerSlam and Royal Rumble matches were all highly regarded, making up arguably the greatest three-match trilogy of Cena's career.

Given that Cena has already faced some of his greatest opponents during his retirement tour, including Randy Orton, CM Punk and Lesnar, it is only fair that Styles gets an opportunity as well.

With no other obvious opponent lined up for Crown Jewel on Oct. 11, it is the ideal setting for him to face Styles one final time.