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When looking at the all-time greatest possible generational dream matches in WWE, a match between Hulk Hogan and John Cena is something which would be enormous on paper, in terms of star power. The two biggest babyfaces of their respective generations colliding at WrestleMania would have no doubt drawn money and eyes, but due to their differences in age and not having much of a crossover period in WWE, a match between the two never ended up happening. However, according to Hulk Hogan, there was a point in time where this match did stand a chance of taking place - at WWE’s biggest show of the year too, for that matter.
John Cena Faced Edge And Big Show At WrestleMania 25
In 2009, John Cena was reigning as the World Heavyweight Champion, although he would drop the gold to Edge at the No Way Out PPV. This led to a three-way feud between Cena, Edge, and Big Show, with the crux of the story being a love triangle between the latter two men and Vickie Guerrero. Cena looked to win back the title, with him finding a way in between the drama and romances to capitalize and become champion once again.
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It wasn’t the best of storylines, though it did lead to a fairly entertaining match at WrestleMania 25, which was capped off with an iconic spot where Cena hoisted both men on his shoulders in a phenomenal feat of strength. Cena defeated the two, winning the World Heavyweight Championship for a second time, adding even more to his overall tally of World Titles. When looking at how the story played out, with the WWE Title picture sorted out too, and there being no other obvious storylines for Edge or Big Show, this looked to be the plan all along. However, Hulk Hogan had something different to say.
Hulk Hogan Claimed Only Injuries Stopped A World Title Main Event Between Him And John Cena
In multiple interviews, Hogan has come out to say that he was going to main event WrestleMania 25. Speaking with Bleacher Report, he stated, “You know what, I was supposed to wrestle John Cena for the title, and about four weeks ago I had back surgery. Vince and I were talking about how much involvement I wanted to have in WrestleMania, and if I wanted to keep wrestling, and out of nowhere my back just got really crazy. I went in for an MRI and I had to have some emergency surgery that threw me out of the game. I was kind of flipped out about it, I thought I’d be the main event this year.”
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At that point in time, Hogan hadn’t wrestled in WWE for three years, with him not being a part of the company in any capacity due to yet another falling out with Vince McMahon. Due to this, coupled with the fact that the Road to WrestleMania looked as though it progressed as planned, it puts some doubt into the truth behind Hogan’s words. Would WWE have really booked a title match with such an aged version of Hogan? Perhaps yes, but he was in such a bad state from an in-ring perspective, as proven by his return to the ring later that year in TNA, that WWE may not have risked it.
It is probably for the best that this match didn’t happen purely from the travesty that it would have been from an in-ring point of view, even if it did prove to be a major draw. There aren’t many reports aside from Hogan’s own words that Cena vs Hogan was the plan for the WrestleMania main event, so it is likely that this was yet another fairytale created by Hogan - something which he has been known to do from time to time over the course of his long career at the top of professional wrestling, and after his retirement too.
