John Cena’s farewell tour kicked off earlier this month and Cena is set to return to the ring soon when he enters the Royal Rumble. Due to the fact that John Cena is retiring at the end of 2025 there’s been a lot of speculation regarding who Cena might face over the next 12 months. Fans certainly seem to have a wish list when it comes to potential opponents. However, one former WWE Champion has officially been ruled out.
During a recent appearance on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, Kurt Angle was asked about John Cena’s retirement tour and he confirmed that he won’t be a part of it. Angle noted that he would love to face John Cena one more time, but he would likely regret stepping into the ring after the match was done.
“No, I can’t wrestle anymore. Actually, you know what? I did wrestle about two months ago. I did a commercial for CBS, and it was for the NFL pre-game for the Ravens and Steelers. So me and a gentleman named Kyle Brandt, he’s a sportscaster for CBS, he pretended he was the Ravens, and I pretended I was the Steelers. We had a pro wrestling match, and I was bumping. What happened was, I threw my back out, and I couldn’t walk for a week after that.
My wife was like, ‘You’re never getting in that ring again.’ She’s right. I shouldn’t have even got in the ring. But it was a lot of fun to do it. But I would love to wrestle John Cena. There’s nobody that wants to wrestle John more than I do for his retirement match, especially with the respect I have for him. I just can’t do it. Because if I get in the ring and I start beating myself up, I’ll never heal [laughs]. I could just walk in there cold and have a match with him, but then I’d probably regret it when I was done.”
H/T Fightful