Drew McIntyre Addresses Scrapped Plans For John Cena Match At WWE Crown Jewel 2025

John Cena’s 2025 WWE retirement tour saw Cena tangle with many big names, but a singles match with Drew McIntyre never occurred.

Cena and Drew tangled as part of the 2025 men’s Elimination Chamber match, and were opponents on an August 2025 edition of SmackDown when Cena and Cody Rhodes teamed up to face McIntyre and Logan Paul in tag action.

‘Big Match John’ recently noted how original plans called for a first ever singles clash between himself and McIntyre at Crown Jewel 2025, but Cena ultimately faced old rival AJ Styles instead. During an interview with Shakiel Mahjouri of SHAK Wrestling, McIntyre talked about the change of plans:

“I can’t change the creative direction. I talked about getting that match with Cena and get in a situation on the microphone with Cena, just to prove what I’m capable of because I want to compete with the best and he is, or was, the best on the microphone. I heard what John said. Whatever people weren’t feeling what was going on, they decided to pivot. He outright asked, ‘Do you want AJ? The match was incredible. I can sit here and go, ‘Damn, what if? What if he tweeted my name?’ The reality is, he’s retired and I’m world champion, so I think it worked out just fine for Drew McIntyre,” McIntyre said.

Cena vs. Styles was heralded as one of the best WWE matches of 2025, and a highlight of Cena’s divisive retirement run.

H/T: Fightful