Former WWE Star Was In Talks With The “Office” About Returning To Face John Cena

John Cena’s WWE Farewell Tour was about pulling off the Never Seen 17th World Title win, a heel turn fans salivated over during his career peak, and most importantly, a love letter to his wrestling career.

He squared off with some of his iconic past rivals, like Randy Orton, CM Punk, Brock Lesnar, and AJ Styles. One name that did not make the list was Rob Van Dam.

At ECW One Night Stand 2006, John Cena likely experienced, for the first time, a completely one-sided hostile reaction from the fans, with signs that read “If Cena wins, we riot” displayed in the crowd. That match against Van Dam in New York City was one of Cena’s career highlights, as he fell to RVD following too many shenanigans, much to the delight of the people.

Rob Van Dam Details The Conversation He Had With WWE Regarding A Match Against John Cena

Rob Van Dam had recently claimed that he was considered for John Cena’s WWE Farewell Tour in 2025 until his injury rendered it impossible.

Now, on WrestleBinge, Van Dam gave in to renowned journalist Bill Apter’s question about whether he was actually in talks with WWE’s higher-ups regarding a match as part of Cena’s Farewell Tour.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I did,” Van Dam said. “At first, I didn’t think [WWE] would be as interested as they apparently were, and so, I started to get a little excited about it. I don’t know if they actually talked to John [Cena] about it, you know? But one of the times, when I was talking to someone about it, they–I don’t remember if it was Paul [Levesque] or Paul [Heyman] in this conversation, but either way, they were like, ‘If John wants to do it, Boom! It’s a shoo-in; for sure. We just need to sell it to him,’ and I was like, ‘All right.’”

The ECW legend noted that WWE was interested in booking their match in Philadelphia, the home of Extreme Championship Wrestling. However, the double heel fracture he suffered in April changed everything.

And so, I don’t know if John was actually aware of it or not, but I was talking to the office about doing it, and was told, ‘If we’re in Philly, it’s a shoo-in.’ Easy. If we’re not doing a show in Philly, well, that doesn’t mean we can’t do it, but we’ll have to think about it; figure it out.’

I was feeling pretty good about the direction it was going, and then, I’m off my feet for most of the year with two broken heels,” RVD concluded.

John Cena’s last match against AJ Styles this past Saturday saw him and Styles pay tribute to many of their past rivals. The Phenomenal One is also in the twilight of his wrestling career, as he confirmed retirement in 2026.

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