Bron Breakker should be John Cena’s final opponent in 2025

The biggest story from Saturday’s “Money in the Bank” premium live event was John Cena announcing that 2025 would be his last year of in-ring action in the WWE. The 16-time world champion indicated that he would do a full tour of around 30-40 dates, spanning from January all the way through December.

That many appearances in one year would practically make the former “Doctor of Thuganomics” a full-time member of the WWE roster throughout 2025. It opens up several possibilities for matchups before he calls it quits. Rematches against former rivals such as Randy Orton, CM Punk, Roman Reigns, or even The Rock are on the table, as well as a bout against current top babyface champion Cody Rhodes. But the match I’m the most curious about is who gets the honor of being Cena’s final opponent.

In wrestling, retirement matches are used as an opportunity to celebrate the retiree while simultaneously building up their opponent for the future. The time-honored tradition is for the person who is retiring to lose on their way out the door, giving a stamp of approval to their opponent. In this case, whoever wins would be able to forever tout the fact that they retired Cena and would be able to use that to propel them into bigger stardom. Given that both the WWE and Cena himself most likely haven’t planned that far ahead, it’s anyone’s guess which rising star will be selected for this golden opportunity. But looking at the current roster of the company, there’s only one name that immediately springs to mind.

That name is Bron Breakker.

The son of wrestling legend Rick Steiner, Breakker signed with the WWE in 2021 and served as the face of the “2.0” rebrand of its developmental show “NXT.” As a very large, athletic, and imposing force, Breakker was identified as the future of the company almost as immediately as his debut match that September. He’d spend the next two-and-a-half years getting seasoning as a performer, winning the NXT title twice while evolving his character as both a face and a heel. His progression finally earned him a call-up to WWE’s main roster this past February, and coincidentally, his Intercontinental Championship match against Sami Zayn at “MITB” immediately preceded Cena’s retirement tour announcement.

Since moving him to “Monday Night Raw” in April, the WWE has placed him on a trajectory that has drawn some comparisons to Brock Lesnar’s meteoric rise in 2002. And it’s a good comparison to make considering that he’s getting over by simply destroying people on a week-to-week basis. So far, he’s brutalized another fellow rising star in Ilja Dragunov and got the honor of sending the departing Ricochet out of the WWE by slamming him through a windshield. His quick build as a violent and unpredictable character led to him getting his first crack at the Intercontinental title at “MITB,” and although he lost, he’ll surely receive more of these opportunities on premium live events moving forward.

One could easily imagine that by the end of 2025, Breakker will be one of the more prominent superstars on the Raw roster. By then, the company will have most likely begun prep for him as a permanent fixture in the main event scene and even a possible winner of the 2026 Royal Rumble. Want to hammer the point home that this guy is the next big thing in the company? Have him be the one to end Cena’s career.

By then, we would have been subjected to a year’s worth of heartfelt moments with the megastar on his retirement tour, full of nostalgia, callbacks, and memorable matchups. Instead of a 20-minute standing ovation where he leaves his boots (and maybe jorts?) in the ring, you know what would be the most effective way for him to go out? It’s getting speared in half by a large, intense man who had a cup of coffee with the Baltimore Ravens. Cena could even take the extra step by being stretchered out into an ambulance. Where a then 48-year-old wrestling legend’s career would end, a then 28-year-old’s career would take off.

And besides, the two have already gotten physical before in NXT. Do you want longterm storytelling? Well, this is it.