It turns out that WWE originally had a different opponent in mind for John Cena at WrestleMania 36.

It wasn’t supposed to be Bray Wyatt, but rather Elias. Plans changed though. Elias shared the news in a recent interview with Sports Illustrated.

“New Orleans, I’m in the mix with John and the Undertaker. The next year, I’m in there with John and the Undertaker again—John at WrestleMania, the Undertaker the night next on Raw. I was supposed to go on and face the Undertaker at the show in Saudi Arabia.

That never ended up happening because of Goldberg, but that was supposed to be my match. The year after was supposed to be myself against John Cena at WrestleMania in a three-year running story. Things obviously changed and that didn’t end up happening.”


Cena took part in the Firefly Fun House match against Wyatt at WrestleMania. It was a trip down memory lane for Cena as it wasn’t a normal match. Instead, WWE aired a series of segments where he went through all of his old gimmicks.

Elias ended up wrestling and beating Baron Corbin at Wrestlemania 36 at Night 1.

Cena hasn’t been on WWE television since this contest. Instead, he has continued to focus on his career in Hollywood.