5 Big WrestleMania plans for John Cena that were canceled

#3 John Cena's planned match with Elias at WrestleMania 36 did not happen

John Cena had one of the most unique matches of his career at WrestleMania 36, against Bray Wyatt. The Firefly Fun House match featured a never-before-seen presentation, and the cinematic aspect of the bout gave WWE lots of room to experiment and do something unusual. Fans may not know that WWE had other plans for John Cena at The Grandest Stage of Them All in 2020.

Here's Elias spilling the beans on what were WWE's plans for him at the show:

"The year after was supposed to be myself against John Cena at WrestleMania in a three-year running story. Things obviously changed and that didn't end up happening."

At WrestleMania 34, right before his match with The Undertaker, John Cena attacked Elias.

The same story was repeated a year later at WrestleMania 35, where Cena put Elias down after insulting him with a rap performance. Instead of going ahead with the original plan, WWE pitted Cena and Wyatt at WrestleMania 36.

Cena battled Wyatt in a cinematic match and was taken down memory lane by the sinister star. In the end, Wyatt's mind games proved to be too much for John Cena, and he lost the match.

About the author

Abhilash Mendhe is a pro wrestling journalist at Sportskeeda with nearly five years of experience. He completed his MBA from the Symbiosis Institute of Telecom Management in 2016 and worked with multiple banking institutions, including Tech Mahindra. While he started writing WWE articles for Sportskeeda in 2019 as a hobby, it eventually became a significant part of his professional journey.

Abhilash checks his articles thrice before sending them to the editing team, ensuring his work is highly accurate and reliable.

He has interviewed prominent pro wrestling personalities like Noam Dar, Angry Miz Girl, Brendan Cobbina, and Jesse Lambert. Abhilash is a big fan of AEW star Orange Cassidy, as he believes the former International Champion’s on-screen gimmick of an extremely lazy guy resonates with him.

Given the opportunity to script WWE’s next big storyline, Abhilash would treat fans to the second installment of The Bloodline Civil War. He would book Roman Reigns to re-form The Bloodline with The Usos and Sami Zayn upon his comeback. The angle would see The Tribal Chief-led group go head-to-head with The Rock, Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga, and Jacob Fatu in a blockbuster family feud.

When not reporting on pro wrestling, Abhilash likes to work out, go on walks, read, and explore new eateries.

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Edited by Kartik Arry