A former WWE Champion and Hall of Famer has stated that they could have been one of the former rivals set to face John Cena as part of his lengthy farewell tour.
The Cena retirement tour is reaching its conclusion with just a handful of appearances left for the 17-time World Champion before he hangs up the jorts for good. At the time of writing, Cena has competed in 12 matches in 2025, with a 13th against Brock Lesnar also confirmed for Wrestlepalooza on September 20. While Cena did have a first-time ever match with Logan Paul at Clash in Paris, many of the opponents have been familiar foes from the Hollywood star’s past, such as Randy Orton and CM Punk. However, according to Rob Van Dam, there were talks to have him make a comeback to run things back with Cena.
Speaking with TMZ for their Inside The Ring podcast, RVD stated that there were talks and a significant amount of interest in making it happen:
“I wanted to be one of the return matches for John Cena and his retirement tour. I was talking to them. There was a lot of interest, without giving away too many details, you know, we were probably going to do it.”
However, despite there being interest on both sides, Van Dam noted that he then suffered a major injury that kept him out of the ring:
“And then I broke my heels.”
The Legendary Match Between John Cena And WWE Hall Of Famer Rob Van Dam
After RVD captured the Money in the Bank briefcase at WrestleMania 22, the extreme icon made it known ahead of time that he was cashing in his opportunity in advance. The match was set for ECW One Night Stand 2006, which aired from the Hammerstein Ballroom on June 11. Dealing with the most hostile crowd of his career, Cena was hit with heavy boos and profanities while making his entrance. With genuine concerns that a riot may break out if the fans did not get what they wanted, interference from Edge and Paul Heyman counting the winning pin led to RVD winning the WWE Championship for the first time in his career. The result is regarded as one of Cena’s mot famous losses.
H/t to Wrestling News.co for the use of transcriptions.
Featured image: WWE
