10 WWE, AEW Stars Who Should Have Been on John Cena's Retirement Tour
Saturday night, one of the most iconic WWE Superstars of this millennium will have what is being billed as his final match.
John Cena is a 17-time world champion who has already earned his spot in the Hall of Fame. With his career in Hollywood continuing to thrive, the 48-year-old has decided to hang up his boots after spending 2025 on a retirement tour.
Over the past 12 months, Cena has stepped into the ring with rivals old and new. He won his 17th world title from Cody Rhodes, and he even had a brief run as the intercontinental champion, marking his first time holding that belt.
AJ Styles, Randy Orton and CM Punk capped off their years-long rivalries with Cena, while new opponents such as Logan Paul and Dominik Mysterio stepped into the ring with him for the first time.
While Cena has revisited some of his most iconic feuds, there are several former rivals who were missing from his retirement tour.
Honorable Mentions
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Chris Jericho: One of Cena's first feuds in WWE was against Jericho, but him being with All Elite Wrestling has prevented any kind of appearance.
Batista: For a long time, Cena was the top star on Raw while Batista was running SmackDown, but the two also fought several times. It would have been great to see one more interaction, even outside the confines of a match.
Bron Breakker: WWE has been pushing Breakker hard in 2025, but facing Cena would have elevated him in ways nobody else can.
Bronson Reed: For the same reasons as Breakker, Reed would have been a perfect opponent for The GOAT during his final run.
Rusev
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One of the more surprising omissions from Cena's retirement tour has been Rusev. He returned to WWE in April, so a lot of fans assumed he might end up in a match with the retiring star.
Ten years ago, The Bulgarian Brute broke onto the main roster by feuding with Cena for the United States Championship. He won at Fastlane that year before dropping the belt to The Cenation Leader at WrestleMania 31.
These two have had dozens of matches over the years, so it would have made perfect sense to reunite them one more time. Sadly, their last televised encounter was a Flag match won by Cena in 2017.
Bryan Danielson
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A couple of Cena's former rivals are unable to take part in his final year due to being part of AEW now, and one of those is Bryan Danielson.
The last time these two shared a ring was at a house show in 2018, but the last time most fans got to see them together was 10 years ago on a 2015 episode of SmackDown in a tag match against Tyson Kidd and Claudio Castagnoli, who was known as Cesaro in WWE at the time.
The history between these two goes back over 20 years to 2003 when Danielson worked as an enhancement talent against Cena in a match on the defunct show Velocity.
It would have been fitting for Danielson to be part of Cena's farewell tour after everything they have been through together.
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Kevin Owens
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When Kevin Owens made his main roster debut in 2015, he made a big first impression by defeating Cena at that year's Elimination Chamber.
Over the past 10 years, the two have been opponents many times, but their last appearance together was as allies in a tag team match in 2022 against The Bloodline.
However, KO has been out of action since WrestleMania 41 due to a neck injury, so he has been unable to take part in anything involving Cena's retirement tour.
WWE had no way of knowing Owens would be injured, so it's possible they were slated to face each other at some point until plans had to change.
The Rock
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This one might sting a little because it was pretty clear WWE was planning to build toward a match with Cena and The Rock before things fell apart.
When Cena turned heel by attacking Rhodes at Elimination Chamber on March 1, it was designed to make The GOAT and Rocky allies, which would have likely led to an eventual falling out and a final showdown.
However, The Rock has not appeared on WWE since Cena's turn. We don't know specifics, but there was clearly a plan in place that was abandoned.
John Layfield
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JBL might not be an active competitor in WWE, but he was the first man Cena beat to become a WWE champion, so he was an integral part of his early years.
A match would be unlikely at this point, but WWE could have had JBL manage someone who was fighting Cena, or even work a special guest referee for one of his title matches.
There are lots of ways JBL could have been included in the retirement tour, but he hasn't been around WWE much in recent years, so it's not completely surprising to see him excluded.
Kurt Angle
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Much like JBL, Kurt Angle is a retired WWE Superstar who was a big part of Cena's early days in the company, so it would have been nice if management could have figured out a way to factor him into the retirement tour.
Cena has had many rivals over the years, but Angle was his first. He made his debut on SmackDown by attacking the Olympian, which led to their first singles match and kicked off a rivalry that spanned a few years.
The last time Cena and Angle were in the ring together was Survivor Series 2017 when Angle's team defeated Cena's team in an elimination match.
Even serving as the special guest enforcer or timekeeper for Cena's last match would be a good way to incorporate the Olympic gold medalist into the tour.
Roman Reigns
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One of the most shocking omissions from Cena's retirement tour is one of WWE's current top stars, Roman Reigns.
Not only was Cena part of Reigns' first official match on the main roster at Elimination Chamber 2013, but he and The Tribal Chief have fought and teamed up almost 100 times between live events, TV tapings and PPV/PLEs.
Both men were in the men's Royal Rumble match this year, but the last time Cena and Reigns were in a regular contest was in 2022.
The OTC would have been a perfect opponent for Cena during his heel turn, but WWE opted to go in a different direction.
Oba Femi
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If you look at the current NXT roster, the one person who seems almost guaranteed to become a world champion someday is Oba Femi.
If WWE wanted to build him up into the next big thing, having him fight Cena would have helped him transition to the main roster.
Femi is one of the few people who would dwarf Cena in the ring, so it would have instantly made the retiring legend an underdog.
The Ruler regained the NXT title at Deadline, which also earned him the right to face Rhodes this Saturday, so he will at least be on the same show as Cena's final match.
The Miz
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The Miz was doing everything in his power to be part of Cena's last match during The Last Time is Now tournament, but his efforts were in vain.
As The A-Lister constantly reminds us, he and Cena worked the main event of WrestleMania 27 together with Miz coming out on top thanks to some help from The Rock.
While the 17-time champion might not get to fight the man who once beat him for the WWE title on The Grandest Stage of Them All, he did throw a Skull-Crushing Finale into his match against AJ Styles at Crown Jewel in October to pay homage to his former rival.
Adam 'Edge' Copeland
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While many of Cena's longtime adversaries are still with WWE, one of his biggest rivals is with AEW, making a reunion all but impossible.
Adam Copeland spent many years fighting with The Cenation Leader during his time with WWE, often with a world title on the line.
Relations between WWE and AEW seem non-existent at this point, so any hopes of these two sharing a ring one last time were dashed as soon as the retirement tour was announced.
It would have been great to see Edge vs. Cena one last time, but it wasn't meant to be.
Who do you think should have been included in Cena's retirement tour but didn't get the chance to face him one last time?
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