It appears that Dwayne Johnson is making his best efforts to get inside the ring with Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 40. The Rock has challenged Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins in a tag team match against the Bloodline cousins at the big event. Fans are now excited about the potential appearance of Johnson’s former rival at the event after a long break.

According to reports, John Cena will return to the event in a brief, but fun appearance. The 16-time World Champion has headlined the WrestleMania event five times when he was the face of WWE. Interestingly, he won six of his first seven bouts at WWE’s Show of Show.

Forget Dwayne Johnson, His Former Rival May Return To WrestleMania 40

Before Dwayne Johnson became a heel in the WWE storyline by slapping Cody Rhodes, he had a well-publicized feud with John Cena. Dwayne Johnson’s former rival is reportedly making a return to WrestleMania 40. The last fans saw John Cena was when he bowed out of the ring after being defeated by Solo Sikoa at the Crown Jewel game in November 2023.

Many fans believed that the Peacemaker actor hinted at his retirement when he walked out of the ring to a standing ovation from the crowd. The new reports about his return come from Dave Meltzer who shared that Cena will appear at WrestleMania 40 if his acting schedule for the second season of Peacemaker allows him to do so. Meltzer shared the information via his subscription-based newsletter, Wrestling Observer Newsletter.

Meltzer also shared an idea about what role Cena could potentially play at wrestling’s major event of 2024. He revealed that if Cena appears on the show, he will be doing a fun, short, and memorable storyline in the WWE. The attempts to bring back the Bumblebee actor will definitely have an impact on the pay-per-view numbers of the event. Dave Meltzer shared on Wrestling Observer Newsletter (via Wrestlelamia):

“Cena will soon be filming a second season of ‘Peacemaker.’ There has been some talk about Cena at Mania. It’s basically up to his acting schedule and if there is something going on. If there is, he may appear but couldn’t do anything that would be deemed a risk. We were told that if he does appear, the idea is to do something fun, short and memorable and with substance…”

John Cena’s last match at WrestleMania was against Austin Theory last year, where the young blood defeated Cena in a controversial victory for the title of WWE United States Championship. Cena has competed in sixteen WrestleMania matches during his career and holds a record of 10-6.

John Cena Regrets Feuding With Dwayne Johnson

In a 2008 interview with The Sun, John Cena went after Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in a brutal way when he shared that the latter didn’t give anything back to the WWE. Cena accused Dwayne Johnson, stating that he talked about loving wrestling all his life, but did not bother to appear in the major shows back then (via Bleacher Report). However, Cena regretted these statements years later.

During the WWE Fastlane Press Conference last October, he shared that he thought he was doing what was best for business but did it the wrong way. He shared that he was a fan of The Rock and wanted him to come back badly. But he admitted that he went about the whole thing the wrong way. Cena shared at the WWE Fastlane Press Conference:

“I made allegations about his perspective that I knew nothing about. And deep down, I was a fan. I wanted The Rock back. I wanted to do anything to get The Rock back, but I did it the wrong way. I didn’t do it the respectful way, so I had to eat a little bit of crow. I had to say, ‘I’m sorry and I was wrong,’ because I am sorry and I was wrong, and that’s a very humbling experience. Dwayne is a hell of a guy.”
Fans eagerly await to see if ‘The Doctor of Thuganomics’ will be back at WrestleMania 40 in any capacity on April 6 and 7, 2024.