John Cena's Original WWE WrestleMania 39 Opponent Revealed
And no, it's not Austin Theory.
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.
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.
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.