Could John Cena break nearly three-decade old record at WrestleMania 39? Details on the multi-time WWE Champion's previous reigns

John Cena is set to kick off WrestleMania 39 against Austin Theory for the United States Championship. The Cenation Leader has held the title on numerous occasions and many consider him to be synonymous with it.

The US Championship was the first singles title Cena captured in the initial years of his WWE tenure. He soon rose to become a prominent name on the roster, garnering a massive fan following. In his two-decade career, he has become a 16-time WWE World Champion, a record he shares with Ric Flair.

The Nature Boy is also a six-time US Champion. With John Cena standing at five reigns of the same title, a win at The Showcase of Immortals will once again place him in a tie with the WWE veteran. Flair last held the title in 1996 from July to November, before having to vacate due to a shoulder injury. Eddie Guerrero then won the title in December of that year.

Austin Theory laid the foundation for his feud with his 'idol' last year. The wrestling fraternity cited the similarities between the two stars and how his winning the US Championship magnified them. The two had a confrontation backstage on the night of Cena's 20th-anniversary with WWE, and the young champion wasted no opportunity to call out the wrestling legend for a match. While Cena initially refused, he continued to call out and keep a watchful eye on the 25-year-old's in-ring progress.

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Is WWE pushing for John Cena to lose at WrestleMania 39?

Following 2019, John Cena started making part-time appearances in WWE. Given the nature of his Hollywood schedule and projects, the 13-time WWE Champion rarely steps into the ring.

At SummerSlam 2021, he went up against Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship in a losing effort. On the December 31 edition of SmackDown last year, he teamed up with former rival, Kevin Owens against The Tribal Chief and Sami Zayn.

His latest project Ricky Stanicky co-starring Zac Efron was set to start filming in February and March, thus seemingly putting a spoke in his future wrestling plans. Despite that, the Cenation Leader confronted and accepted Austin Theory's challenge for a match at WrestleMania, a few weeks ago.

John Cena is set to reprise his role as Jakob Toretto in the second part of Fast X. The first part of the popular movie franchise is slated for release in May this year. Given the nature and extent of his acting schedule, it remains to be seen whether history will be created on Night 1 of WrestleMania 39.