Wrestling fans have a tendency to think of dream matches as never before seen pairings of top talents. Wrestlers themselves can have a broader definition, which is certainly the case for Randy Orton.
Maybe it’s because the 14-time world champion has had a career that spanned several waves of WWE talent, so he’s been in the ring with all but the newest faces in the company. He’s had memorable matches with just about everyone of note over the past 20 years, so maybe it’s not that surprising that he’d want to run it back with someone who he’s had some of his most iconic moments.
Orton said as much during his appearance this week on “The Bump,” saying he’d love to face one of his most storied rivals, John Cena, one more time in a high stakes match at WWE’s biggest event.
“A dream match for me would be to somehow find myself in a situation where I’m fighting Cena at WrestleMania for the title. Now I don’t know how you get there, I’m not saying it’s gonna happen, but I have never wrestled John at WrestleMania in a singles match.”
"A dream match for me would be to somehow find myself in a situation where I'm fighting @JohnCena at #WrestleMania for the title." 👀👀👀
WE NEED THIS @RandyOrton!
WATCH #WWETheBump LIVE: https://t.co/PmYMNVLpFu pic.twitter.com/H5QCjVHgEu
— WWE (@WWE) January 17, 2024
He’s right about that. Orton did take on Cena at WrestleMania XXIV and retained the WWE Championship, but that was in a Triple Threat match that also included Triple H. Their most recent singles match of any kind was on a February 2017 episode of SmackDown.
An Orton-Cena WrestleMania title match doesn’t seem likely this year, with the main event slots likely ticketed for others. Still, with Orton back as a regular and looking healthy — he also told “The Bump” that he thinks he has plenty left in the tank to make another world championship run or two — it’s not hard to imagine that perhaps the Viper could go into WrestleMania 41 as a champ and face a challenge from Cena.
And honestly, even though it’s a pairing we’ve seen before, one more showdown between the two men at Mania would only add to their legend. Thanks, Randy, for helping expand the commonly held definition of dream match a little more.
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