There's only one man John Cena must beat before his retirement; it's not Brock Lesnar!

John Cena's time as an in-ring competitor is nearing its end. The Cenation Leader will have his final match in WWE at Saturday Night's Main Event XLII on December 13. Cena is set to face his longtime rival, AJ Styles, at the upcoming Crown Jewel Premium Live Event.

After Saturday, The Franchise Player will have just four appearances left in his Farewell Tour before he hangs up his wrestling boots. His last match was at Wrestlepalooza, where he suffered a one-sided loss against Brock Lesnar.

Given the nature of their previous bout, many believe that Cena should avenge his devastating loss by beating The Beast Incarnate to conclude his story. While that makes sense, there's someone else who The Last Real Champion must defeat before retiring, even more than Brock Lesnar, and that's Roman Reigns.

Roman Reigns assumed Cena's mantle as the face of WWE. When OTC was being positioned as 'the guy,' The Franchise Player gradually began stepping away from the spotlight of the squared circle. However, being two of the biggest stars in the company, Cena and Reigns were bound to gravitate toward one another.

In 2017, The Franchise Player took it upon himself to test if the future of WWE was in the right hands with Roman Reigns. At No Mercy, the two collided in a singles match, where the former Big Dog emerged victorious. Cena raised Roman's hand following the bout in what seemed like an official passing of the torch moment.

Their next televised match came at SummerSlam 2021, but the dynamic had shifted from their previous encounter. Reigns had transformed himself into The Tribal Chief and was ruling WWE with an iron fist. Cena tried putting an end to The Head of the Table's reign as Universal Champion, but was unsuccessful.

While they are undoubtedly two of the biggest superstars in the history of WWE, their rivalry has surprisingly been one-sided. John Cena has never defeated Roman Reigns in one-on-one competition. Including non-televised bouts, the OTC is 11-0 against The Cenation Leader.

Therefore, now that Cena is retiring, he must break his losing streak against The Head of the Table and defeat him. A potential John Cena vs. Roman Reigns match is sure to be a must-see affair on any given night and would be a productive use of one of Cena's last four appearances after Crown Jewel.

It will be interesting to see how the Triple H-led creative team books the remainder of John Cena's Farewell Tour.

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John Cena is rumored to face former World Heavyweight Champion in his final match

Per Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the former World Heavyweight Champion Gunther is slated to face John Cena in the latter's final in-ring outing in December. Meltzer noted that a tournament is being planned to determine The Franchise Player's final opponent, with The Ring General being the favorite to win it.

The former Imperium leader is currently sidelined with a nose injury. He was last seen at SummerSlam 2025, where he lost the World Heavyweight Championship to CM Punk.

Edited by Parth Pujara