The Latest On John Cena's WWE WrestleMania 41 Opponent
Rumors continue to fly about who Cena will face at his final Mania during farewell tour.
As John Cena prepares to begin his final year of active competition in WWE, speculation has been running rampant about matchups, both in terms of opponents and major PLEs.
There's no bigger show on the 2025 calendar than WrestleMania 41, so why not go with quite possibly the biggest opponent possible?
Fightful Select reports that Cody Rhodes facing Cena is the working plan for Mania. While that news is not entirely new, Fightful noted that the plan "picked up more traction" on Friday. The outlet had been told as far back as mid-November that Cena/Rhodes was the plan, once it became known that The Rock's schedule for WrestleMania was unclear. Currently, Rock isn't factored into Mania plans, but that could turn on a dime as WWE is "at the mercy of his schedule," according to Fightful.
A WrestleMania 41 match between Cena and Rhodes raises a lot of interesting possibilities. If Cody goes into the event still holding the Undisputed WWE Championship, Cena would be vying to break the record he and Ric Flair co-hold, with 16 world title reigns apiece. It also brings up the question of whether Cena would get there by winning the Royal Rumble -- which would give him three Rumble wins (2008 and 2013 being the others), tying him with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin -- or via the Elimination Chamber.
On the Raw after WrestleMania 40, Rhodes and The Rock faced off in a scintillating promo exchange that strongly hinted at a future match between the two. With Rock currently off the board for Mania, a battle with Cena is probably the next biggest match for the American Nightmare.
Fightful noted that some close to Cody had hoped that a match between he and Cena would take place at WrestleMania 39 in 2023. But then Rhodes got injured, returning at Royal Rumble 2023 and winning the eponymous match and facing Roman Reigns at Mania.
One thing that seems to be off the table at this time is any notion of Cena facing Logan Paul at WrestleMania 41, which the Social Media Maverick reportedly pitched personally.
Given the nature of the wrestling business and the uncertainty surrounding The Rock's schedule, plans could always change, but this is certainly a viable option for both men.