Ranking the Best Opponents for John Cena's Rumored WWE Return

For the first time since WrestleMania 36, the WWE Universe may be on the verge of finally seeing John Cena in a WWE ring again.

There's no better time for the 16-time WWE world champion to resurface than SummerSlam season, which will need as much star power as it can get with fans being welcomed back into the building. Per Dave Meltzer of F4WOnline.com (h/t Marc Middleton of WrestlingInc.com), WWE is eyeing the July 16 edition of SmackDown in Houston for him to return.

Cena's final WWE appearance to date saw him come out on the losing end of a cinematic match with Bray Wyatt at WrestleMania 36. Prior to that, his last real rival on the roster was The Undertaker heading into WrestleMania 34, where he lost in a matter of minutes.

In Cena's absence, various fresh faces have risen up on Raw and SmackDown and achieved great success. There are a number of names who would make for viable opponents for Cena, especially on as grand of a stage as SummerSlam.

Rumors have been running rampant regarding who Cena could be facing at the biggest party of the summer. All options should be considered, and these next several Superstars would be the best bets.

Sheamus

There is no shortage of history between Cena and Sheamus. In fact, The Celtic Warrior's first feud on the main roster at the end of 2009 was with Cena, who he beat to capture the WWE Championship on two occasions.

They've occasionally crossed paths over the last decade, but rekindling their rivalry in 2021 over the United States Championship would make the most sense. Cena elevated the star-spangled prize to new heights during his two runs with it in 2015, and with Sheamus now in possession of it, there's reason to believe he would want it back.

Apollo Crews

Cena has held the United States title on five different occasions over the course of his career but never the Intercontinental Championship. By never winning that prestigious prize, he hasn't been able to call himself a Triple Crown or Grand Slam champion.

He hasn't contended for the championship very many times, either. Thus, Cena coming back and setting his sights on Crews' coveted title would be a nice change of pace for him and put Crews in a prominent program on the SmackDown brand again.

Finn Balor

Balor's main roster run lasted all of three years (and missing time because of injury didn't help), so it isn't too surprising that he and Cena have never gone one-on-one before. However, their most memorable interaction came in a Fatal 4-Way on Raw at the onset of 2019 when Balor pinned Cena to become No. 1 contender to the Universal Championship.

If Balor's days in NXT are coming to a close and he'll indeed be returning to either Raw or SmackDown soon, giving him a high-profile opponent such as Cena would be ideal.

Aleister Black's main roster run over the last two years has been an interesting one, to say the least.

After going undefeated in one-on-one action for over a year, he suffered his first loss in March 2020 to AJ Styles and gradually lost his singles push from that point forward. He returned from a storyline injury he suffered at the hands of Seth Rollins that summer, turned heel and disappeared from programming again for no apparent reason.

His only standout feuds on Raw and SmackDown since the spring of 2019 have been with Murphy and Kevin Owens. He seemed to start a rivalry with Big E upon his long-awaited return to SmackDown two weeks ago and hopefully that will give him the direction he desperately needs.

Beyond that, a program with John Cena would be the perfect way to keep his momentum rolling. Beating someone of Cena's caliber would surely cement him as a top-tier talent on the blue brand and force fans to take him seriously.

The match would be excellent to boot given that Black has proved he can work well with just about anyone, while Cena never fails to produce gems inside the squared circle when the lights are on bright.

All signs seem to point to Adam Cole staying in NXT for the foreseeable future, but a run on Raw or SmackDown is surely inevitable given everything he brings to the table.

The former Undisputed Era member has enjoyed plenty of success during his near-four-year run in NXT. He's won every championship there is to win and battled—and beaten—every top name on the roster.

His loss to Kyle O'Reilly on Night 2 of TakeOver: Stand & Deliver should have paved the way for him to leave for the grand stage of WWE, but a sit-down interview that aired with him a few weeks later indicated he has unfinished business with O'Reilly and with NXT in general.

If he were to make the move to either Raw or SmackDown this summer, Cena would be a fantastic first rival for him. It'd be no different than when AJ Styles debuted in WWE in 2016, targeted Cena and became a megastar soon after.

WWE fans are already familiar with Cole from the handful of appearances he made on Raw and SmackDown in late 2019, when he took the fight to Seth Rollins and defeated Daniel Bryan. Their clash of styles would make for a fun series of matches and establish Cole as a main event player from the get-go.

Long before becoming WWE champion in 2020, Drew McIntyre initially arrived in WWE around the same time as Sheamus in the summer of 2009. Unlike The Celtic Warrior, however, McIntyre and John Cena were always separated by the brand split and never had a chance to compete against each other.

They've battled before in Royal Rumbles and other multimen matches, but that was the McIntyre of old. Their most recent interaction in a six-man tag team match on Raw in January 2019 saw McIntyre inadvertently "injure" Cena, which kept him out of the Royal Rumble match that year in storyline.

McIntyre taking out Cena wasn't acknowledged again after that, and Cena returned to Raw that summer like it never happened. It would have made sense at the time given that McIntyre was still a heel, but there's no reason that can't be revisited in the near future even though he has since turned face.

The Scottish Warrior has run through everyone WWE has put in front of him over the last year-and-a-half, including Brock Lesnar, Goldberg and Randy Orton. He needs a new batch of opponents to work with, and Cena would arguably be the biggest name he could clash with.

In order to be recognized as the face of WWE, McIntyre must first earn the respect of the old guard—that being John Cena. Doing that match in front of fans at SummerSlam would undoubtedly make for a magical moment.

No one wants to face John Cena in his return to the ring as badly as Karrion Kross.

The NXT champion has been making the media rounds as of late and has repeatedly gone on the record in saying that John Cena is his ultimate dream matchup. Cena reacted to his remarks by posting a picture of him on his Instagram page soon after.

From a storyline standpoint, there's nothing to suggest we're getting that match anytime soon. There's no established bad blood there, and Kross will likely be tied to the black-and-gold brand for the foreseeable future as its champion.

That said, it isn't unheard of for an NXT titleholder to pop up on Raw and begin pulling double duty between the brands. In fact, it happened with Cena back in 2015 when Kevin Owens faced and defeated him on a WWE pay-per-view while reigning as the NXT champion.

It's no secret that NXT officials are high on Kross—and for good reason. His epic entrance gives him the aura of a star, and an entrance of that magnitude belongs on a show like SummerSlam for a marquee match against a guy like Cena.

It was almost exactly one year ago that MVP first courted Bobby Lashley and informed him that his last one-on-one shot at the WWE Championship came against John Cena at The Great American Bash in 2007. Sure enough, that gave Lashley the motivation he needed to get back on track and target then-champ Drew McIntyre.

Lashley fell short in his match with McIntyre at Backlash last year but went on an absolute tear in the remainder of the year. His dominant run led to him capturing the WWE Championship this March and defeating McIntyre in clean fashion at WrestleMania 37.

The Scottish Warrior will get another shot at the strap at Hell in a Cell, but he isn't expected to win. Lashley could use an important opponent for SummerSlam, and if it isn't going to be Brock Lesnar, Cena would be the next best choice.

Their Great American Bash clash was one of Lashley's best bouts up to that point, so they clearly have chemistry together. Lashley could cite his loss to Cena that night as the beginning of the end for him in the company and now he wants revenge.

Of course, Cena is a 16-time world champion in WWE and is looking for that record-breaking 17th title win. He shouldn't be the one to beat Lashley, but in a match between the two, a win for The All Mighty would a great way for his career to come full circle.

The top rumored name for John Cena's opponent at SummerSlam this year is none other than Roman Reigns, which is hardly a shock given how much of a focal point The Tribal Chief has been on WWE programming for the last year.

Per Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter (h/t Paul Davis of WrestlingNews.co), Reigns vs. Cena is the current plan for the SummerSlam main event. The company is looking to go all-out for one of their first pay-per-views with fans in a major venue and that marquee match would certainly sell some tickets.

Cena has conquered every top name who has ever come through WWE except for Reigns. Their sole singles clash at No Mercy in 2017 ended in a win for Reigns and then Cena endorsing him afterward.

As previously mentioned, Cena should return wanting to win his 17th WWE world title. Bobby Lashley is an intriguing option, but Reigns is more likely because of their history and because of how Reigns is simply the bigger star at the moment.

The Head of the Table has been doing the best work of his career as a heel and has had a slew of instant classics as champion. Running this bout back at the biggest party of the summer would an attraction of epic proportions and further propel Reigns into superstardom if he were to win again.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, has specialized in sports and entertainment writing since 2010. Visit his website, WrestleRant, and subscribe to his YouTube channel for more wrestling-related content.