SK's take on who John Cena could face at WrestleMania 34

John Cena is one of WWE’s most decorated champions of all time and, whether people love him or hate him, it cannot be denied that he deserves a featured match at WrestleMania every year.

According to a recent report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, WWE has huge plans for the 16-time champion at 2018’s “Show of Shows” and he could be in line for one of his biggest WrestleMania encounters to date on 8 April 2018.

Dave Meltzer mentioned that he will be “in a much bigger match” than AJ Styles, the current WWE champion, at the event and noted that The Undertaker, Batista, Goldberg and Hulk Hogan were the only potential opponents he thinks Cena could face.

In all likelihood, we can rule out Hogan. The 62-year-old was fired by WWE in July 2015 after a tape emerged of him using racist language and he is yet to be rehired. Besides, his last match was back in January 2012 for Impact Wrestling and, after multiple surgeries, there’s a high chance that he wouldn’t be cleared to compete.

As for Batista, the wrestler-turned-actor has made it clear in recent media interviews that he would love to return to WWE. He has no plans to make one-off appearances, though, and is keen to go back as a full-time performer, so “The Animal” vs. “The Franchise” isn't totally out of the question at WrestleMania 34.

Goldberg vs. Cena isn’t impossible either. The former Universal champion hasn’t been seen in a WWE ring since the night after WrestleMania 33 when he uttered the words “never say never” before dropping the microphone, seemingly hinting that he will return one day.

If Cena is going to be in a more high-profile match than Styles, that almost certainly rules out him winning the Royal Rumble, unless WWE does the unthinkable and adds him to the Universal Championship match, expected to be Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns, but that’s a little too far-fetched.

Outside of Batista and Goldberg, that only really leaves one realistic option: The Undertaker. “Big Match John” and “The Phenom” have never faced each other at WrestleMania and the annual talk of them finally meeting on the grand stage has livened up over the last couple of months.

We won’t know for sure if ‘Taker, who reportedly asked to face Cena at WrestleMania 33, will compete again until he appears on Raw’s 25th-anniversary episode on 22 January. But if we had to stick our necks on the line, we’d bet on seeing these two legends battle in New Orleans in April.

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