John Cena has had a legendary career brimming with starry opponents, but the 17-time champion didn’t hesitate when naming the toughest.
Cena continues to make history in WWE in 2025 during his incredible retirement tour, which will see him hang up his boots in December.
This year alone, the 17-time champion has reignited feuds with the likes of Randy Orton, CM Punk, and R-Truth, and he’s faced some of the biggest names in history throughout the last two decades.
However, the star was adamant that neither of those WWE stars was his ‘toughest’ opponent, as he named a surprise wrestler.
John Cena picks WrestleMania 36 match against Bray Wyatt as ‘toughest’
Cena has had some legendary rivals throughout his career, namely the likes of Orton and Punk, but he picked a star he faced just a handful of times on the big stage as his toughest opponent.
“It’s the match I had in the Firefly Fun House,” said the 17-time champion at the Boston FanExpo (via Justin Barrasso).
Cena took on The Fiend at WrestleMania 36, the only ‘Mania event without fans due to the Coronavirus pandemic.
The match was a ‘cinematic’ bout, akin more to a horror film rather than a typical professional wrestling match.
For these reasons, Cena picked Wyatt, or The Fiend, as his toughest match and opponent throughout his career.
“The reason that opponent was tough–and I know it was against Bray Wyatt–was because that was more or less a match against me,” added Cena. “I’ll say that was my toughest match.”
Cena faced Wyatt at WrestleMania 30 and 36, as well as inside a Steel Cage at Extreme Rules in 2014, with Cena losing two out of the three times.
John Cena called Bray Wyatt an ‘incredible’ performer
Wyatt tragically died in 2023 and Cena was one of the first WWE stars to pay tribute to the wrestler on social media.
“His art, in every creative sense, will be an eternal reminder to us of how truly incredible he was,” wrote Cena in tribute to the star.
Cena and Wyatt feuded throughout 2014, but also became linked throughout the rest of the iconic character’s career.
Their WrestleMania 36 match, which Cena called his ‘toughest’, ended up being their last-ever bout together.