5 opponents for John Cena if The Undertaker doesn’t appear

Tonight we’re faced with the very real possibility of The Undertaker returning to WWE television, in order to accept John Cena’s challenge for a match at WrestleMania 34. It’s a match that has been over ten years in the making, as these two legends prepare to face off in a one on one contest in front of the biggest wrestling audience of the year.

Of course, that’s what everyone expects to happen – but what if it doesn’t? What if we’ve come all this way, and it turns out that either Taker can’t physically go in the ring, or the match just isn’t destined to happen? It seems unlikely at this stage but it’s always a possibility, and because of that, we’ve come up with a few alternatives for Big Match John this Sunday.

So with that being said, join us as we examine five potential opponents for John Cena if The Undertaker doesn’t appear on Raw tonight.

#5 Samoa Joe

It seems incredibly unlikely that Samoa Joe will miss WrestleMania for the second consecutive year, especially when you consider just how many rumours have been floating around regarding his potential involvement. The Samoan Submission Machine is in desperate need of a headline-making moment, and a showdown with Cena would fit that description perfectly.

It wouldn’t make the most sense in the world for WWE to promote this in less than a week, especially given that the two men trained with each other back in the day, but that’s never stopped them before. Cena vs Joe would tear the house down in New Orleans, and regardless of who gets the win, it’s a feud they could always revisit in the lead up to SummerSlam.

#4 Kane

Put down your knives and pitchforks – we know, this isn’t going to be a popular option. Unfortunately, however, it could be one of the only logical selections remaining given the circumstances. While Cena was able to dispatch of the Big Red Machine on Raw, Kane could come back and demand an ‘inferno match’ or something similar in order to really settle the score with Cena.

Then, after the bout, Taker could come down and lay out Cena with a hellacious tombstone piledriver. That way you could either have him ride off into the sunset without the risk of injuring himself, or you could set up the bout for WrestleMania 35. It doesn’t exactly make the most sense in the world, but you just never know what could happen in the WWE.

#3 Woken Matt Hardy

While he may have been announced as a participant in the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal, Woken Matt Hardy could always throw a spanner in the works. His gimmick change hasn’t gone quite as smoothly as many fans would’ve hoped in the last few months, and as a result, he could use a big WrestleMania moment in order to elevate himself to the next level.

Which is where Cena comes in. While their characters aren’t exactly the same, Taker and Matt do have the same kind of ‘spookiness’ to them which could make The Woken One a worthy replacement. The match itself probably wouldn’t be all that great, but when you look at the options available on the main roster, it could work out for the best – but only if Matt picks up the victory.

#2 Bray Wyatt

Speaking of similarly spooky characters, enter Bray Wyatt. This option actually makes all the sense in the world, because Bray is still reeling from the effects of his entry into the Lake of Reincarnation. He’s been acting out in live events recently, and now, he could return to the Hawaiian shirt-wearing character which got him over with the WWE Universe in the first place.

Think about it – Cena represents everything that Bray once despised about the higher powers in WWE, and he was the man who handed Wyatt his first main roster WrestleMania loss. Winning against John at Mania would offer Bray with the chance to right a wrong from nearly four years ago, and in the process, he can press the restart button on what has been a turbulent career thus far.

#1 Jeff Hardy

John Cena vs Jeff Hardy is a dream match, and there’s no denying that. Back in the day, Jeff had the potential to become an even bigger star than the 16-time world champion, but because of his own personal mistakes, that never came to fruition. Now, all these years later, they can go head to head in order to prove who the bigger superstar really is.

They’ve fought on an episode of Monday Night Raw in the past, but this would be different. Jeff’s high flying style would mesh perfectly with Cena’s ability to bring it on the grandest stage of them all, and the fans would be completely into it. Either way, this needs to happen before either of these men retire, and if Taker isn’t around then WrestleMania would be the perfect place for it.

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