WrestleMania 39 will see John Cena challenge WWE United States Champion Austin Theory on Night 1, but several WWE Superstars have been pushing to work with Cena.
Top level WWE talent has been angling to work with Cena at WrestleMania 39 since the summer of 2022, according to a new report from Fightful Select. Several wrestlers heard about Cena’s WrestleMania plans, and how he was open to his first WrestleMania singles match in front of a live audience since 2018, when he was defeated by WWE Hall of Famer The Undertaker at WrestleMania 34.
People within WWE were pushing for Cena vs. Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania, even though it was pretty clear by August that Rhodes would challenge Undisputed WWE Universal Champion Roman Reigns.
According to internal WWE documents, Cena vs. Logan Paul was considered at one point and was even tentatively planned over the fall. There was nothing scheduled for Theory at the time, but by December, WWE had booked Cena vs. Theory and, shortly after, Paul vs. Seth Rollins.
On a related note, Fightful reports that Cena vs. Theory will be the opening match of WrestleMania 39 on Night 1.
As PWMania.com previously reported, there was some confusion surrounding the match when it was announced on SmackDown that Cena vs. Theory would “kick off” Night 1 of WrestleMania, implying that this would be the first match of the main card on Saturday night. However, WWE announced the Night 1 and Night 2 lineups, with Cena vs. Theory set to “headline” Night 1. The match will kick off Night 1 without taking into account any potential Kickoff pre-show matches, according to Fightful.
