John Cena excited for ‘incredible group’ of WWE WrestleMania debuts
John Cena — the host of WWE WrestleMania 42 — is excited to be in the building to experience several wrestlers’ first Mania.
In a tweet promoting WrestleMania tickets, Cena wrote that he’s looking forward to being in Las Vegas for the WrestleMania debuts of Lash Legend, Je’Von Evans, Trick Williams, Oba Femi, and Stephanie Vaquer. Both Legend and Vaquer are entering the April 18-19 event as champions, while Evans and Williams will be challenging for gold. Femi is booked in one of the top matches on the show against Brock Lesnar.
“Since retirement I’ve met so many wonderful people who’ve shared with me that they saw my first WrestleMania match … and my last,” Cena tweeted. “I’m so excited to be able to say ‘I was there!’ for the WM debuts of this incredible group! @LashLegendWWE @WWEJeVonEvans @_trickwilliams @Obaofwwe @Steph_Vaquer”
Cena, who retired from the ring with a loss to Gunther in December 2025, now serves as an ambassador for WWE. Evans and Femi took part in undercard matches on Cena’s retirement show, with Cena aiming to spotlight some of the up-and-coming wrestlers in WWE. Evans and Femi were in NXT at the time but joined the main roster shortly after.
In addition to hosting WrestleMania, Cena is set to appear on a live recording of The Undertaker’s Six Feet Under podcast at WWE World on April 18.
Here are all of the matches that have been officially confirmed for WrestleMania so far (nights to be determined):
WWE WrestleMania 42 (Saturday, April 18 and Sunday, April 19 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas) —
- World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk defends against Roman Reigns
- Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes defends against Randy Orton
- Women’s World Champion Stephanie Vaquer defends against Liv Morgan
- WWE Women’s Champion Jade Cargill defends against Rhea Ripley
- Brock Lesnar vs. Oba Femi
- Seth Rollins vs. Gunther
- Unsanctioned match: Drew McIntyre vs. Jacob Fatu
- Women’s Intercontinental Champion AJ Lee defends against Becky Lynch
- United States Champion Sami Zayn defends against Trick Williams
- Ladder match: Intercontinental Champion Penta defends against Je’Von Evans, Dragon Lee, Rusev, JD McDonagh
- Women’s Tag Team Champions Nia Jax & Lash Legend defend against Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss, The Bella Twins, and Bayley & Lyra Valkyria
- Finn Balor vs. Dominik Mysterio
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.