John Cena makes his grand return to WWE, he has his WrestleMania opponent locked in

WWE legend John Cena returned to wrestling for the first time since December last year and he’s got his WrestleMania match locked in.

The ever-popular superstar made a special appearance on Monday Night Raw on the road to the biggest wrestling event.

The 16-time WWE champion hasn’t competed at WrestleMania since 2020 when he took on Bray Wyatt in a Firefly Fun House match.

That edition of Mania was held during the pandemic era when no fans were allowed in attendance.

So it’s been even longer since he’s been in front of a packed-out stadium for WrestleMania.

But that’s all about to change.

The Hollywood star entered the TD Arena in his hometown of Boston to a thunderous reaction from thousands.

But before the icon even had a chance to speak, United States champion and young upstart Austin Theory stepped into the ring to confront Cena.

Theory admitted that Cena ‘inspired’ him when he was a young kid watching the superstar in his prime.

He then laid out a challenge to the 45-year-old to face him for the title at WrestleMania 39.

And surprisingly, Cena replied with ‘no’.

Cena then gave his reasoning as to why claiming that ‘he didn’t care’ enough about Theory to face him and that the fans didn’t ‘believe in’ him.

The veteran went on to explain that the young wrestler was a ‘John Cena wannabe’ but wasn’t living up to the potential just yet.

But the US champ wasn’t taking no for an answer.

Calling Cena a ‘disappointment’ and claiming the future Hall Of Famer was ‘giving up’.

After some back-and-forth Cena asked the Boston crowd if they wanted to see the matchup at the upcoming Mania - and they answered with a deafening reaction.

So the stage is now set, it’ll be John Cena returning to the WrestleMania stage against Austin Theory for the United States championship.

It’ll be Austin Theory’s biggest matchup of his young career.

Meanwhile, any John Cena matchup in the twilight of his career is a must-see.

Featured Image Credit: WWE Raw. Zuma Press, Inc. / Alamy.

Topics: WWE, John Cena, Wrestlemania

Jayden Collins

Jayden Collins is a Journalist at SPORTbible. He has worked across multiple media platforms in areas such as sport, music, pop culture, entertainment and politics. He is part of the editorial team for LADbible Australia.