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Rob Van Dam Reveals WWE Discussions for John Cena Retirement Match

Originally posted on The Sportster | By Kellie Crawford | Last updated Sep 9, 2025 12:37 PM ET

RVD was close to joining Cena's retirement tour, but fractured both heels in April and missed out.
WWE showed strong interest in booking RVD vs. Cena before the injury halted plans.
Their ECW One Night Stand 2006 feud saw a hostile crowd and RVD win the WWE title; they last teamed in 2014.

With John Cena’s retirement looming, there are a lot of what-ifs. It’s hard to condense an over two-decade career into months. One former opponent of Cena’s, WWE Hall of Famer Rob Van Dam, shared how close he would have been to being part of Cena’s retirement tour during an interview with TMZ.

RVD Says WWE Had A Lot Of Interest In The Match

While a guest on TMZ’s Inside the Ring podcast, RVD revealed that WWE had interest in bringing him back to be one of Cena’s opponents. It was close to happening until RVD injured both of his heels in April. He said:

“Let me tell you this, I wanted to be one of the return matches for John Cena on his retirement tour. I was talking to them. There was a lot of interest. Without giving away too many details, you know, we were probably going to do it. And then I broke my heels.” (h/t: F4Wonline)

It was at Major League Wrestling’s Battle Riot VII event where RVD fractured both of his heels. RVD was part of the 40-man Battle Riot match, where the winner gets a future shot at the MLW World Heavyweight Championship. RVD almost made it to the end until Matt Riddle eliminated him.

Before the MLW match on April 5, the last time RVD was in the ring was on AEW Rampage in April 2024.

The Infamous WWE Champion Match At ECW One Night Stand

Whendiscussing Cena and RVD’s rivalry, the match that stands out is the one between the two at the second ECW One Night Stand event on June 11, 2006. Cena was going into enemy territory, or in this case, an ECW Original’s territory — the Hammerstein Ballroom. At the time, Cena was the WWE Champion, and he was defending against RVD in an Extreme Rules match.

To say that the crowd was hostile would not be overreacting. After all, there was the infamous sign, “If Cena Wins We Riot.” The crowd also threw back Cena’s shirt, thanked Edge for spearing Cena through a table, and chanted insults like “you can’t wrestle.” The match ended with Paul Heyman acting as the referee and declaring RVD as the winner.

RVD would only hold the title for less than a month. On July 3, 2006, he would defend it against Edge and Cena on an episode of WWE Monday Night RAW. It was Edge who would win the title. So anyway, it would have been interesting to see RVD vs. Cena one more time. The last time they were both in a WWE ring was in April 2014, and Cena and he were tag team partners.

This article first appeared on The Sportster and was syndicated with permission.

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