Another ghost from John Cena’s past has put his name in the hat to retire The Greatest Of All Time at WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event XLII in December.
John Cena has had some memorable rivals throughout his 26-year career in pro wrestling. In the last decade, one that stands out as arguably an underrated program was Cena’s feud with Rusev. This storyline is what led to his remarkable “US Open Challenge,” as he dethroned The Bulgarian Brute and subsequently had a late-career United States Championship reign.
Rusev, however, was on the other end of the spectrum. While he retained the belt at Fastlane 2015 via technical submission, a rare kind of win over Cena, he then went on to lose on three occasions consecutively to The Greatest Of All Time. In more ways than one, the star never fully recovered afterwards.
Rusev Says Otherwise, Singles Out WrestleMania 31 Match Against John Cena
Although Rusev’s losses and subsequent lackluster booking hurt his WWE career, the former United States Champion spoke highly of John Cena.
Breaking character on VoxCatch, he told the host that Cena taught him a lot of things and helped his career in the early days rather than hurt it. He singled out their WrestleMania 31 match, where The Last Real Champion defeated him.
That moment was special. It’s WrestleMania–the pinnacle of every professional wrestler.
And to go out on a tank, with my wife Lana in front of 75,000 people was absolutely a dream that you can’t even have when you’re a kid because–especially in Bulgaria, where I come from, it’s very hard to dare to dream, right? So, this was like a surreal moment, and I’m thankful to God and Jesus because he made it all possible.
Rusev Believes Retiring Cena Would Be A True ‘Passing Of The Torch’
Rusev assured that if they step inside the squared circle during this farewell tour, he will beat John Cena. This is why he does not see himself as an appropriate opponent for The Greatest Of All Time at this stage in the latter’s career.
However, the Bulgarian Brute also noted that if Cena goes out on his back, that would be poetic.
[Would you like to face him before he retires?] Oh that would be absolutely yes, sir! But would I hurt him? Yes, sir. Will I beat him? Yes, sir. So I may not be an appropriate opponent for farewell John Cena tour. […] The thing is, it’s going to be a great passing of the torch if I just get to beat him. That would be a fantastic farewell for him, because he started my career, and now I can end his.
Rusev returned to WWE in April 2025 after a noteworthy run in AEW as Miro. In 2018, the former United States Champion’s popularity grew in massive proportions as he organically got over with the “Rusev Day” gimmick. Being a talent who has proved his mettle already, it seems only a matter of time before The Bulgarian Brute rises to main event status.