Early Predictions For John Cena's Final WWE Match

John Cena's upcoming retirement tour is shaping up to be the biggest story in WWE in 2025, an honor befitting of a star of his caliber.

The extremely decorated wrestler-turned-actor made it clear during his historic announcement at Money in the Bank that he intends to wrestle for the entirety of 2025 before calling it a career at the end of the year.

Although he made no mention of wanting to win gold one more time, it would only make sense for him to chase what would be his record-setting 17th world title and tell that story.

Otherwise, nothing is set in stone, meaning that he can face a wide variety of opponents over the course of the year. From fresh faces to familiar foes, everyone on the active roster will be aiming to share the squared circle with one of the greatest of all-time.

There's any number of directions WWE can go in for Cena's last match, but to ensure his highly-anticipated retirement tour has a proper conclusion, these are the five best scenarios for what his final farewell could entail.

Randy Orton is widely regarded as one of Cena's greatest rivals ever, if only for the vast amount of matches those two had against each other between 2007 and 2014. On every single occasion, they brought the best out of each other and had unforgettable battles.

Amazingly, none of their singles matches occurred at WrestleMania. The closest they came was at WrestleMania 24 where they fought in a Triple Threat match also involving Triple H.

If they don't wage war at WrestleMania 41, Orton can easily be saved for Cena's sendoff in December 2025, allowing them to close out their storied feud in grandiose fashion.

Nothing would need to be on the line and the outcome would be irrelevant. The sheer sight of Cena and Orton standing on opposite ends of the ring again would be special enough.

Their last televised one-on-one matchup took place on the Feb. 7, 2017 edition of SmackDown. Even that encounter paled in comparison to what they were capable of a decade earlier, but the crowd would be so hot for everything they do that the quality of their contest would hardly matter.

Cena's extensive history with The Bloodline dates back to 2017 when he first faced off with Roman Reigns and fell short, effectively elevating The Big Dog to the next level in the process.

When they ran it back at SummerSlam 2021, Reigns had evolved into The Tribal Chief and was far from the same Superstar Cena collided with four years prior. Reigns emerged victorious for a second straight time and defeated the future WWE Hall of Famer decisively.

Cena rekindled his rivalry with The Bloodline last fall when he returned to SmackDown for a few months and again at WrestleMania 40 when he thwarted Solo Sikoa's interference to aid Cody Rhodes to victory against Reigns.

It's safe to assume that Cena's score with The Bloodline will never truly be settled, which opens up the door for the faction to play a role in his ultimate rematch match. A rematch between Reigns and Cena would be unnecessary, but the two teaming up to take on The Rock and Jacob Fatu in tag action would certainly be a marquee matchup.

Reigns has yet to "acknowledge" Cena and this would finally give him that chance.

Cena hasn't been positioned as the face of WWE in close to a decade, but he'll forever be synonymous with that top spot.

WWE desperately tried to make Reigns the new "guy," but their efforts fell flat and forced him to turn heel. Over the years, he's organically become a fan favorite again and embraced the audience, but Cody Rhodes has proven to be much more of a natural in the role since dethroning Reigns as Undisputed WWE champion at WrestleMania 41.

There was a quick moment during on the March 6, 2023 edition of Raw where the two crossed paths on the Raw ramp and Cena endorsed Rhodes before heading to the back. Planting the seeds for a future match wasn't intentional, but it undoubtedly got fans buzzing about the possibility.

Some may suggest that Rhodes would have to go rogue first in order for that clash to come to fruition, but a babyface vs. babyface affair would be even more appropriate considering the circumstances.

Granted, it's a WrestleMania-worthy bout, but Cena putting over Rhodes in his retirement matchup at the end of 2025 would solidify that the torch has officially been passed.

If you want to put over a new star in a major way, you have them squash a name as notable as John Cena in his last match ever.

Unfortunately, WWE attempted something similar with Cena and Solo Sikoa at Crown Jewel 2023 and failed to follow up accordingly, so Sikoa didn't reap the benefits despite destroying him that night.

While not exactly a rookie on the rise, Brock Lesnar dominated Cena with relative ease in their outing at SummerSlam 2014. Never before had Cena been beaten so decisively before, causing Lesnar to come across like even more of an unstoppable force.

WWE can go that route with Bron Breakker by having him send Cena packing into a permanent retirement.

It would be all about the aftermath, but based on how Breakker has been portrayed on the Raw roster this year, he'd likely have no issue continuing to climb the ranks after disposing of Cena in his final match.

The two-time Intercontinental champion has had an impressive run on Raw this year and adding such an accolade to his growing résumé would make him that much more of a threat.

For the biggest bout imaginable, a world championship should be on the line in Cena's final farewell.

He's expected to be an odds-on favorite to win the 2025 men's Royal Rumble and go on to challenge for one of WWE's top titles at WrestleMania 41, but it's too soon for that story to play out, even if he loses.

Rather, Cena should spend the majority of next year racking up wins in order to earn that opportunity at the prestigious prize, culminating in him contending for either the Undisputed WWE Championship or the World Heavyweight Championship in his last match.

It's almost impossible to predict who will be holding both belts by then, but Cena deserves a spectacular sendoff and this would accomplish that. He currently owns the record with Ric Flair for most world championships won (at least those recognized by WWE) and should be the one to break it.

The defending champion could be anyone: Gunther, CM Punk, LA Knight, Drew McIntyre or any of the aforementioned athletes. Cena getting the opportunity to have a moment of that magnitude is what's most important, regardless of the venue or the opponent.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, has specialized in sports and entertainment writing since 2010. Visit his website, WrestleRant, and subscribe to his YouTube channel for more wrestling-related content.