John Cena Discloses the Toughest Test of His 23-Year WWE Career

John Cena honors Bray Wyatt's legacy by calling their WrestleMania 36 match as the toughest outing of his career.

John Cena Discloses the Toughest Test of His 23-Year WWE Career

Bray Wyatt and John Cena (via WWE)

🔍 Explore this post with:

ChatGPTPerplexityGrok AIGoogle AI

John Cena was part of the famous Ohio Valley Wrestling Class of 2002, alongside future WWE legends Randy Orton, Brock Lesnar, and Batista. From the moment he found his groove in 2003, the 17-time World Champion was always destined for the long game. A big part of his evolution came from working with world-class athletes in their prime. Over the past 23 years, Cena has stepped into nearly every type of match imaginable.  

Let it be from the Elimination Chamber and Hell in a Cell to 5-star classics and I Quit bouts. But which match does he consider the toughest of his illustrious career? Interestingly, Cena points to his WrestleMania 36 Firefly Fun House match against Bray Wyatt as the most challenging. Speaking to Justin Barrasso during an interview at Fan Expo Boston, the future Hall of Famer explained why this unique bout stood out, even among his many career highlights.

The match took place during the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced WWE to get creative. Instead of a traditional in-ring contest, it became a cinematic spectacle, a format that was already challenging on its own. But for Cena, the real struggle was internal.

It’s the match I had in the Firefly Fun House. 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. I’ll say that was my toughest match.

John Cena via an interview with Justin Barrasso

Originally planned for a stadium crowd, WrestleMania 36 was moved to the WWE Performance Center and became the first-ever two-night WrestleMania, held entirely without a live audience, the only one in history to do so.

In the surreal, dreamlike encounter, Cena took on multiple personas: turning heel and appearing in nWo colors with the WCW Heavyweight Title, then throwing back to his 2002 rookie gear from his main roster debut. Ultimately, it became a symbolic battle of good versus evil, and of Cena facing his own mortality, with Wyatt emerging victorious on the second night of the event.

For context, this was their second WrestleMania meeting, coming six years after their clash at WrestleMania 30. Tragically, Wyatt passed away in 2023. As for Cena, he is now halfway through his retirement tour. 

Recently, he turned baby face again but lost the WWE Title to Cody Rhodes at Night 2 of SummerSlam, before being attacked by a returning Brock Lesnar in the closing moments of the show. Cena addressed his return on SmackDown and is next scheduled to face Logan Paul at Clash in Paris.

Paul Heyman weighs in on John Cena’s heel run ending at SummerSlam 2025

Speaking of John Cena, his five-month heel run came to an abrupt end at SummerSlam after passing the torch to Cody Rhodes in a 37-minute marathon. While many fans believe the decision to turn Cena heel ultimately backfired, Paul Heyman sees it differently.

John Cena and Cody Rhodes
John Cena and Cody Rhodes (via WWE YouTube)

The WWE Hall of Famer recently appeared on The Ariel Helwani Show. When asked about Cena officially ending his heel run during SummerSlam weekend, Heyman spoke poetically about the bond Cena has built with the audience, and why he’s glad ‘The Cenation Leader’ got to make that turn.

I think John Cena abandoned the heel Cena character the Friday night before SummerSlam. [Was it a mistake to turn him?] No. [Did it go as you thought it would?] No, because it opened my eyes to the fact that this is an audience that is here to see stars and performances. As much as they are rooted into the storylines, they are there to appreciate the twisted performance art known as professional wrestling in WWE.

Paul Heyman via The Ariel Helwani Show

Heyman went on to describe the electric atmosphere whenever Cena appeared, comparing his crowd reactions to the legendary “Road Warrior pop” once reserved for the biggest stars in wrestling history.

The moment John Cena comes out, that place went nuts. Star pop, of a magnitude few have ever experienced, Austin, Rock, Cena, Roman Reigns, that level. Then… ‘John Cena sucks, John Cena sucks.’ Boo him out of the building as a heel. The moment the show was over, they all gave him a standing ovation… chanting, ‘Thank you, Cena.

Paul Heyman via The Ariel Helwani Show

With only a handful of dates left, Cena will soon say goodbye to professional wrestling in December 2025, which will eventually bring a close to his 23-year WWE career. It is safe to say that the 17-time World Champion’s legacy is sealed in stone and will continue to do so. 

Also read: