2025 marks a significant moment for professional wrestling as John Cena, one of the most popular WWE Superstars of all-time, goes on his retirement tour.
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The year is expected to be filled with dozens of opponents, with experts predicting he'll face classic opponents and maybe even get one final world title run to break the record for most championships.
However, there's no rule that says Cena's 17th world championship has to be in WWE. In fact, TNA World Champion Joe Hendry is willing to put his title on the line.
During an episode of SA Live with fellow TNA wrestler Tessa Blanchard, Hendry named his dream opponent, which obviously included the leader of the Cenation.
"For me, it's going to be John Cena, right?" Hendry asked. "Look, what would be better than inviting John Cena to cross the line into TNA Wrestling and maybe go for a 17th World Championship? I'm ready for the challenge, John."
This marks the second time Hendry has openly challenged Cena to a match. The first occurred on the "Busted Open Radio" Podcast with WWE Hall of Famers Bully Ray and Mark Henry when he once again named Cena as a dream opponent.
"John Cena. Let me tell you why," Hendry said. "Let's let it continue. I have done all the things that I thought would be impossible, but in an era where anything can happen."
"And just before Genesis Triple H tweeted us, Shawn Michaels tweeted the show, and John Cena, who hadn't tweeted about it before, tweeted the TNA logo on his Instagram. What kind of representative would I'd be for TNA, if I didn't call out John Cena?"
This would certainly be a huge match for both Hendry and TNA, especially since Cena is so recognized as a company man who has only wrestled with WWE. Given Hendry's popularity and babyface status, this would certainly be a high-profile match.
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To most people outside of professional wrestling, Hendry is most well-known for his viral song "I Believe in Joe Hendry."
The wildly catchy entrance theme currently has nearly six million views on YouTube and peaked at No. 4 on the UK Singles Downloads Chart.
While this certainly catapulted Hendry into more mainstream popularity, the champion has been constantly working hard ever since 2013 when he began regularly appearing with Insane Championship Wrestling in Scotland.
Hendry would go on to appear in multiple different promotions, including Ring of Honor, Discovery Wrestling, New Generation Wrestling, WhatCulture Pro Wrestling/Defiant Wrestling, and, of course, TNA Wrestling.
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While Hendry earned numerous titles in these other promotions, the viral nature of his theme caused WWE to take notice, resulting in Hendry making an appearance in a 25-man battle royal on NXT.
When WWE shared Hendry's debut on X (formerly Twitter), it became the most-viewed post of the year.
Needless to say, Henry's star power is real. And if he were to face and defeat John Cena, he could easily become the most popular professional wrestler in the world.
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