John Cena's Original WWE WrestleMania 39 Opponent Revealed

And no, it's not Austin Theory.

by Andrew Pollard
WWE WrestleMania 39 Logan Paul John Cena
WWE

While John Cena currently seems on a collision course with Austin Theory at WWE WrestleMania 39, Theory was not the original opponent WWE had in mind for Big Match John at this year's Showcase of the Immortals. Instead, initial plans called for Cena to face off against Logan Paul at 'Mania 39.

As per WrestlingNews.co, WWE had first pencilled in Cena vs. Paul for the 2023 edition of WWE's Grandaddy of Them All.

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This match itself had been teased on social media by the WWE legend, while Logan Paul also noted on his Impaulsive podcast in November how he'd had talks with Triple H about wanting to wrestle Cena at WrestleMania 39.

At the time that WWE was looking to go in this particular direction for it's biggest show of the year, it was likewise planned that Cena and Austin Theory would face off at SummerSlam 2022. Any such SummerSlam plans were shelved due to the 16-time World Champion filming the second season of his Peacemaker TV series, and it's believed that a change in direction at the end of last year saw WWE instead opt to move forward with Cena vs. Theory, rather than Cena vs. Paul, at WrestleMania 39 - with creative switched up to place Logan Paul up against Seth Rollins at the Shows of Shows.

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WrestlingNews also notes how John Cena views Austin Theory as a genuine main event player for the company in the upcoming years, and how there is a belief that Super Cena is looking to put A-Town 'over' at Inglewood, California's SoFi Stadium over the weekend of 1 and 2 April.

Of course, that Cena vs. Theory match has yet to be made official, with many expecting the one-time Doctor of Thuganomics' appearance on next week's Raw to be the catalyst to setting the bout up for 'Mania.

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Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.