John Cena’s highly publicized 2025 WWE retirement tour provided fans with a string of dream matches and nostalgic encounters. Throughout the year, Cena tangled with a variety of top-tier superstars. He crossed paths with Drew McIntyre inside the unforgiving Elimination Chamber, and the two found themselves on opposing sides during an August 2025 episode of SmackDown when Cena and Cody Rhodes battled McIntyre and Logan Paul in tag team action. However, a highly anticipated one-on-one clash between “Big Match John” and the “Scottish Warrior” never materialized.
Creative Pivots Alter the Retirement Tour Landscape
According to recent comments, a singles match was indeed part of the original blueprint. Cena noted that early plans called for a first-ever singles encounter against McIntyre at the Crown Jewel 2025 premium live event in Saudi Arabia. Ultimately, the creative direction shifted, and Cena ended up facing his historic rival, AJ Styles, in what many heralded as one of the standout matches of his divisive retirement run.
During a recent interview with Shakiel Mahjouri of SHAK Wrestling, Drew McIntyre opened up about the scrapped plans and the reality of the wrestling business. “I can’t change the creative direction. I talked about getting that match with Cena and get in a situation on the microphone with Cena, just to prove what I’m capable of because I want to compete with the best and he is, or was, the best on the microphone,” McIntyre explained.
McIntyre acknowledged that the company made a strategic pivot when the initial storyline wasn’t resonating as expected. “He outright asked, ‘Do you want AJ?’ The match was incredible. I can sit here and go, ‘Damn, what if? What if he tweeted my name?’ The reality is, he’s retired and I’m world champion, so I think it worked out just fine for Drew McIntyre.” While the dream match never happened, McIntyre’s status as the reigning Undisputed WWE Champion softens the blow of the missed opportunity.
