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A 16-time World Champion, John Cena is arguably the most successful WWE Superstar of his generation.
Since making his main-roster debut in 2002, the WWE Superstar-turned-movie star has competed in more than 2,000 matches, including live events, and he has faced almost every top Superstar on the WWE roster in that time.
John Cena told Chris Van Vliet in 2019 that he does not like to request certain storylines or opponents – it was rumored at the time that he wanted to face Kurt Angle – because he cannot control who Vince McMahon wants him to go up against.
“That is beyond my control. My response to that is control the controllable. Everyone always asks me, ‘What do you want to do for WrestleMania?’ or, ‘What’s your dream opponent?’ and I have never, ever gone about our business that way. I do what is asked of when and then when I get what is told of me what I have to do, I try to make it super special.”
There are always exceptions, of course, as it has been revealed in various reports and media interviews that John Cena occasionally asked to face – or, in some cases, not face – a specific opponent during his time in WWE.
With that in mind, let’s take a look at three WWE Superstars that John Cena wanted to work with, as well as two that he did not want to work with.
#5 John Cena wanted to work with Roman Reigns
For many years, it appeared as though WWE was building towards a match between John Cena and Roman Reigns at WrestleMania one day.
WWE has been known to book torch-passing moments at WrestleMania – Hulk Hogan vs. The Rock being one famous example – and a victory over John Cena on WWE’s biggest stage would have solidified Reigns’ status as the company’s next top guy.
Speaking to inquirer.net in June 2016, John Cena name-checked Reigns when asked to choose somebody that he wants to face in WWE.
"I know that I always kind of test myself, whether it's new Superstars or established Superstars, and I know Roman Reigns has carved up quite a niche for himself and he has all the attributes to be a successful WWE Superstar for some time to come. I've heard he's good. I'd like to find out how good he is."
As it turned out, WWE’s decision-makers opted to book the long-awaited John Cena vs. Roman Reigns match at No Mercy 2017 instead of hyping it up as a huge WrestleMania encounter.
Reigns picked up the victory in 22 minutes and he went on to defeat John Cena on nine more occasions at WWE live events between December 2017 and March 2018.
#4 John Cena did not want to work with Mr. Kennedy
Not only did John Cena not want to work with Mr. Kennedy, but the 16-time WWE World Champion allegedly complained to Vince McMahon and asked that he never work with his WWE colleague ever again.
The famous incident involving Mr. Kennedy took place on the May 25, 2009 episode of WWE RAW when John Cena joined forces with Kennedy, Batista, Jerry Lawler and MVP to defeat Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton, Ted DiBiase Jr., The Big Show and The Miz in a 10-man tag team match.
One of the standout moments from the match saw Kennedy hit Orton with a back suplex, as you can see above.
Following the match, “The Viper” claimed his opponent dropped him on his neck and, as Kennedy recalled in a 2010 interview with Brian Fritz, both John Cena and Orton decided to take the issue up with Vince McMahon.
“He [Orton] landed flat as flat can be and then he went and complained to Vince and then Cena went and complained to Vince and said that they didn’t want to work with me anymore because I was dangerous, and that is what ended up being the final straw.” [H/T Wrestle Zone]
Kennedy received his release later that week, meaning John Cena did not cross paths with the former United States Champion in WWE again.
#3 John Cena wanted to work with Velveteen Dream
As mentioned in the introduction to this article, John Cena often brushes aside questions about dream opponents by reminding interviewers that the direction of his WWE storylines are ultimately decided by WWE’s higher-ups.
In May 2018, one smart fan decided to get specific on the topic of future opponents by asking John Cena at a MegaCon event whether he would rather face Adam Cole, Velveteen Dream or Ricochet if he could take on only one of the NXT Superstars.
“That’s a good question, and my answer is going to upset some people. I would rather face Velveteen Dream. You know in those Star Wars movies with the Jedi and he says something like, ‘I think that is the One.’ I got that odd, mental and great feeling about Velveteen Dream.”
John Cena has hardly appeared on WWE television since making that comment, while Velveteen Dream is still an NXT Superstar and he is yet to debut on RAW or SmackDown.
Dream is only 24 years old, as of the time of writing, so there is plenty of time for him to face John Cena in the future.
#2 John Cena did not initially want to work with AJ Styles
It is not known whether John Cena requested to face AJ Styles before their six-month storyline in 2016-17, but we do know that “Big Match John” had no interest in working with “The Phenomenal One” prior to him signing with WWE.
Former WWE producer Arn Anderson, who worked alongside John Cena as the producer for many of his WWE matches, revealed on his ARN podcast in 2020 that he once suggested that the company sign Styles, Bobby Roode and James Storm.
Anderson felt that John Cena needed fresh heels to work with and he thought the three wrestlers, who all worked in IMPACT Wrestling at the time, could be possible opponents.
“I said, 'It would really beef up the company if we went out and stole Bobby Roode, AJ Styles and 'The Cowboy' James Storm. If you brought those three guys in it would give you a whole plethora of new opponents, it would give a lot of guys new opponents.' John looked at me and said, 'We've got NXT, we make our own stars.'” [H/T Wrestling Inc.]
Anderson clarified that John Cena was simply transferring Vince McMahon’s psychology to him and he probably did not mean to put down Styles, Roode and Storm.
#1 John Cena wanted to work with The Big Show
One of John Cena’s 16 WWE World Championship victories came in 2009 when he defeated The Big Show and Edge to win the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 25.
The match was originally supposed to be a one-on-one encounter between long-term rivals John Cena and Edge. However, as The Big Show revealed on a 2019 episode of WWE Network show ‘WWE Photo Shoot’, he jokingly pitched an idea to John Cena in early 2009 about facing him at WrestleMania.
“I was teasing John, I was like, ‘Hey man, I don’t have an opponent for WrestleMania. If you know anybody that needs a dance partner…’ I already knew he was working with Edge, so I was just joking and saying, ‘What’s up?’ We go on the bus that night to go to the building and John told me he was going to put me in the angle and talk to Vince [McMahon].”
John Cena’s request to work with both The Big Show and Edge was approved by Vince McMahon, and “Big Match John” ended up having another ‘WrestleMania moment’ when he lifted both opponents onto his shoulders in the Attitude Adjustment position.
After the footage (02:50 mark of the video above) was shown on ‘WWE Photo Shoot’, Big Show thanked John Cena for unselfishly helping him get a spot on the WrestleMania card.
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