The social media landscape has been dominated over the past 24 hours by John Cena’s campaign for one more match against a legendary rival. With Cena directly challenging both AJ Styles and Paul “Triple H” Levesque online, speculation has run rampant. That speculation has now been met with a definitive answer.
The Phenomenal One has officially accepted the challenge. In a direct response to Cena’s callout, AJ Styles took to Twitter and wrote, “I hear them loud and clear. Let’s do it, I’m ready!” signaling his willingness for a final showdown between the two icons.
The exchange began Monday night when Cena first teased the potential encounter. It escalated Tuesday with a follow-up post that put pressure directly on WWE management. Cena wrote, “I do not choose my opponents, but I (even through tough times) ALWAYS listen to the fans. @AJStylesOrg are you listening? Better yet @TripleH….. are YOU listening???” The post also included the hashtag #CenaVsStyles.
This public back-and-forth directly contradicts the narrative pushed by WWE’s Chief Content Officer, who has framed Cena’s retirement tour as the legend hand-picking a “dream list” of challengers.
While WWE has not yet made the match official or announced a date, the stakes are clear. Cena and Styles are tied at two wins apiece in singles competition. Styles earned victories at Money in the Bank and SummerSlam in 2016, while Cena evened the score by capturing the WWE Championship from Styles at Royal Rumble 2017 and winning their most recent encounter on SmackDown in February 2018.
With Cena’s farewell run underway and his next appearance scheduled for Crown Jewel in Australia on October 11, the window for this fan-demanded tie-breaker is closing. Meanwhile, Styles is also booked for next week’s Raw, where he will team with Dragon Lee against Los Americanos.