Cody Rhodes wants to face John Cena during his retirement tour

John Cena's farewell tour is set to begin soon. Big Match John said that 2025 will be his last year in the ring at WWE Money in the Bank this past July. As he has stated that he and WWE are considering a range of 30–40 dates in 2025, Cena is going above and beyond to ensure that the final year lasts a full 12 months. 

WWE WrestleMania, WWE Royal Rumble, and WWE Elimination Chamber will be among those dates. The 16-time world champion himself has made it clear that he will not be selecting his opponents in advance for the upcoming fight, thus it is unclear who will line up opposite him in the squared circle.

Big Match John is in the sights of The American Nightmare. WWE Champion Cody Rhodes referred to the possibility of facing John Cena in a live signing at Fanatics Fest NYC as "the honor of [his] life" on his farewell tour the following year. "It would be the honor of my life to wrestle John Cena in any capacity. He's the GOAT for a reason," Rhodes said. "We get to live in this era, and he's a man of his word. When he says it's farewell, it truly is farewell. If you have the farewell tour t-shirt, go and get it, this is it. I drove John around for a year and I learned everything I possibly could. Didn't realize I was learning so much at the time," Cody Rhodes said as per Comic Book.

The American Nightmare has never face John Cena

With their debut match taking place in 2009, Rhodes and Cena have now squared off four times. Rhodes, who was then competing under the name Stardust, challenged Cena for the WWE United States Championship in an open match that took place in 2015. That was their most recent match.

Although John Cena has never faced the American Nightmare version of Rhodes in a match, the two have crossed paths a few times in recent years. In March 2022, Cena presented Rhodes to the WWE Monday Night Raw audience. This past April, at WWE WrestleMania 40, Cena again participated in Rhodes' celebration of winning the WWE Championship.