-John Cena’s Intercontinental Championship Open Challenge:
On the Raw after Mania, Cena would address the crowd as the IC champion for the first time. He tells the audience that he can’t promise he’ll be out every week, but he says that when he is available he’s going to host an IC title open challenge. The first one starts that night, so if you want some, come get some!
The people who challenge Cena over the course of the next few weeks are Xavier Woods, Dragon Lee, Pete Dunne, Bronson Reed, Johnny Gargano, and even Je’von Evans from NXT. John outlasts all the opponents on this journey in different ways, but that isn’t to say that is all the challengers he’ll face during this run.)
-King and Queen of the Ring, 2025:
Intercontinental Championship Match: Logan Paul vs John Cena(c):
During one of his IC open challenges, Cena would be called out by Logan Paul. Paul would ask Cena why he’s been ducking him for this long? He knows that he has been eyeing a match-up with him since he arrived in the WWE, but it still hasn’t happened. Logan tells John he can’t run away anymore, as he has come to challenge him face to face.
John tells him if he wants to face him so badly, then he’ll gladly face him as part of the open challenge right then and there. Logan just laughs it off and asks if he really thinks he’s going to perform in front of the fans on this small of a stage. After a verbal dismantling of Logan, John would ask Logan to kindly leave the ring to allow other, more deserving and less awful people to challenge him for the title.
Logan would respond by initially beginning to exit the ring, but would turn around and knock Cena out with the brass knuckles. Afterward, he’d go up top and hit a frog splash on the prone Cena before security breaks it up. The next week, Logan would send in a video telling Cena he’s made his statement, and he wants to face him at King and Queen of the Ring with the title on the line.
John Cena responds on Raw by saying that he really shouldn’t give the guy any attention, but by refusing, he’s running away, and he can’t give Paul that satisfaction. He accepts the challenge, promising to give Logan a much-needed attitude adjustment. Before the bell rings for the match to begin, the ref checks Logan and takes away the brass knucks, much to Paul’s chagrin.
Normally, Logan would be no match for Cena if it was a fair fight, but Logan likes to fight dirty, which puts him in control throughout. Near the end, Cena would go for an AA, but Logan would slip out and shove Cena into the ref. From out of nowhere, a guy from his team would jump the barricade to give Logan another set of brass knuckles.
Paul would go for the punch, but Cena would catch it and take the knucks off of his hand. He’d tease putting them on, but would throw them away. That hesitation would allow Logan to hit Cena with a low blow. He’d then take advantage and hit a frog splash on Cena for a very close near fall.
Logan would be irate after that, and so he’d set him up for a final exclamation point. He’d hoist John up for an AA of his own, but Cena would slip out of it with a sunset flip. He’d then turn that into an STF on Logan. Paul would initially make it to the rope, but Cena would get up and drag him back to the center of the ring before locking it in even tighter, forcing his opponent to tap out.)
-Money in the Bank, 2025:
Intercontinental Championship Match: Sheamus vs John Cena(c):
With King & Queen of the Ring in the books, the build to MITB 2025 would begin with it being announced that Cena would defend his title at the event in question. A battle royal would soon be set up for an episode of Raw to determine the #1 contender, which would be won by the Celtic Warrior, Sheamus.
The story here is simple, Sheamus notes that Cena is approaching the end of his career, but Sheamus is getting older too. The end may be coming sooner or later, and there’s still one thing Sheamus needs to do before it’s over, and that’s capturing the title Cena holds.
John understands what Sheamus means, as winning the title did the same for Cena as it’d do for Sheamus. He believes Sheamus deserves to be in that elite class of performers who can call themselves a grand slam champion, but it won’t happen easily. Cena’s prepared to hold that title until he reaches the end of his tenure, and so if Sheamus wants it, he’ll have to pry it from him.
Sheamus then gives Cena a refresher on their history. Years ago, a young rookie in the WWE defeated Cena within 6 months of his debut to capture the WWE championship. That rookie has grown quite considerably since then, and he will repeat history to complete his career. The match between Cena and Sheamus is a hard-hitting, yet respectful fight. Cena gets a little more stiff and aggressive with his offense than we usually see in order to keep up with the barbarian that is Sheamus.
After a grueling battle where the two trade many big moves and near falls, we’d see Cena hit an AA on Sheamus for another massive near fall. John would soon set Sheamus up top for the finishing blow, an avalanche AA. Cena would not be able to find his balance on the top, though, allowing Sheamus to send him crashing to the mat below.
With that, Sheamus would manage to hit a King Kong knee drop from off the top rope. He’d then back into the corner, beat his chest, and hit the Brogue Kick on Cena for a triumphant victory.
Cena’s IC title reign comes to an end, and Sheamus’s reign begins with a massive celebration commencing. Cena would shake hands with Sheamus after the match, before walking to the back, looking as if he’s contemplating his next move.)
-SummerSlam 2025:
Tag Team Match: CM Punk & John Cena vs Finn Balor & JD McDonagh:
At this point in time, the Judgment Day has already collapsed, but Finn and JD are still very much in a partnership. Sometime after Mania, Finn gets roped into a feud with CM Punk that continues going into SummerSlam.
On the Raw after MITB, Punk would be attacked by Balor and JD, but he’d then be saved by John Cena. Punk and Cena then stare each other down and shake hands. Cena and Punk’s bond, formed over an intense rivalry, caused the two to really respect each other, and so when Cena saw Balor and McDonagh attack Punk, he couldn’t just sit idly in the back.
The next week, Cena would similarly be attacked by Finn and JD, this time forcing Punk to return the favor by helping out. With that, Cena and Punk lay down the challenge for SummerSlam, and the match was soon made official. During the feud, Finn mentions how Cena had screwed him over 4 years prior. Finn was set to challenge Reigns, but it was Cena who ended up signing the contract for himself.
He says a match against Cena at SummerSlam is years in the making, and adding CM Punk to the fray only makes it that much sweeter. Meanwhile, Cena and Punk act like old chums in the build to this. They reflect on their past as rivals, and now stand firmly with a mutual respect for each other as they head into Cena’s last SummerSlam.
The match itself is a very solid tag affair. Despite some quick bits of a comeback here and there, CM Punk gets worked over by the two men for most of the match. In the climatic moments, Punk would get Cena in for a hot tag, with big match John cleaning house. He’d hit JD with the 4/5 of the moves of doom, but Finn would pull McDonagh off of John’s shoulders before he’d hit the AA.
JD would then tag in Finn before hitting the Devil Inside, before Balor would follow it up with a 1916. They’d make the cover, but Punk would come in to break the count at 2. After a long sequence of back-and-forth action from all four men, the legal man, CM Punk, would set up both men in the corner before hitting his patented running knee.
He’d soon tag in his partner, and they’d both get their opponents in fireman’s carry’s. They’d both hit their finishers simultaneously and go for the double pin to get the win. Cena and Punk would celebrate in the ring after the match, in a pretty wholesome moment at the biggest party of the summer.)
-Bad Blood 2025:
One Last Time: CM Punk vs John Cena:
After SummerSlam, Cena and Punk would unsuccessfully challenge for the tag titles on Raw, both men looking a little dejected. Punk and Cena are both still on the journey of capturing another world title in WWE, and the tag titles could’ve been a gateway to that, but alas, it wasn’t meant to be.
A few weeks later, Cena would be on Raw to address the crowd, when CM Punk would interrupt him. Neither would blame each other for coming up short in that tag match, it wasn’t in the cards for them to win, and that’s that. However, Punk states that they both have similar goals, as they both want to hold a world title in WWE just one more time. The way he sees it, they are once again in each other’s way on the paths to accomplish that goal.
Knowing that defeating one another would do wonders for their standings in the power rankings, Punk challenges Cena to one final match between them at Bad Blood. John ponders it for a second, but eventually agrees, they shake hands and state that the best man shall win. The story going into this one is that Cena is nearing the end. He’s been vying for that one last, record-breaking world title win for years, but time is running out.
Beating Punk could very well give him that needed boost back into the world title scene, but Punk is equally hungry. Despite loving and respecting John, CM Punk will look out for what’s in his best interests first and foremost. Punk wants another run with a world title too, and he knows more than anything that losing to Cena could very well put him at the very back of the line. He won’t just let Cena beat him, but somehow he knows John wouldn’t have it any other way.
The match itself is what you might expect from the two in this day in age. It’s meant to serve as a love letter to their iconic matches from before, with them recreating some old spots in new ways. The two show that they know each other incredibly well throughout, with them even trading each other’s offense at points. The long, arduous match finally ends with Cena countering a GTS attempt and setting Punk up for one final AA to get the win.
After the match, it’d look as if Punk was going to turn on Cena, but he’d instead bow to him before exiting the ring as a sign of respect.)
You must be logged in to post a comment.