John Cena Posts a Reminder of Huge Match Missed Out On During WWE Farewell Tour

Randy Orton, CM Punk, AJ Styles and Brock Lesnar all faced Cena one last time during his retirement year, but another one of his former foes missed out on the opportunity. The 17-time world champion has suggested in interviews that he has no regrets over how his last year as a pro wrestler panned out.

Cena might just be pondering what could have been had Kevin Owens not been injured throughout the course of his farewell tour. He took to Instagram on Tuesday and posted a snap of the pair embracing one another ahead of his retirement match.

Owens was in the front row alongside other WWE legends who worked with Cena to bid farewell on his final night competing in the ring. He shook hands and hugged the 'Greatest of All-Time' in a heartwarming moment at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.

The Prizefighter has been out of action since January, when he suffered a serious neck injury which required neck fusion surgery. He has stepped up his recovery in recent months and posted a video of himself training in early November to fuel talk of a potential return before WrestleMania 42.

Owens arrived on WWE's main roster by defeating Cena on his debut, and a rivalry between the pair commenced. While many wouldn't name the Canadian among the 48-year-old's top five rivals, he certainly has a lot of history with the legendary WWE star.

Cena even revealed in an interview ahead of his retirement match that Owens was one of four members of the WWE roster whom he turned to for advice after receiving fan backlash over his limited moveset. The pair are close outside the ring, and it's a shame they didn't get to go toe-to-toe one more time during the farewell run.

Kevin Owens 'Really Hurt' Missing Out on John Cena Match

Owens missed Cena's heel turn, his crowning moment as a 17-time world champion at WrestleMania 41 and several other storylines. He was set to face Orton at Mania until he was pulled from the event due to injury.

The 41-year-old opened up about this challenging period of his WWE career and spoke of his regret not getting to face Cena again. He said during an appearance on My Mom's Basement podcast in April:

"One of the things that really hurts about this injury is now I know I won't get to wrestle John [Cena] one last time, 'cause that's not gonna happen now, and I was really hoping I got to do that before he's done."

Fans are eagerly anticipating Owens' return, but there is no word on when that will be ahead of the Royal Rumble on January 31st. His longtime friend and former rival, Chris Jericho, could be making a shock return to the company by the time he is cleared to compete.