Cena vs. The Rock vs. Batista: Is It Too Much To Ask?

John Cena will wrestle multiple WWE matches between now and retiring at the end of  2025. Nothing would grab public attention more than a showdown with his fellow movie stars The Rock and Dave Bautista.

The Rock will also lay the smackdown in a WWE ring during that period after laying the groundwork for future matches with Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns, earlier this year.

Bautista is retired from wrestling. But surely he could be lured back for a fight of such epic proportions. 

Aligning three of Hollywood’s leading men’s schedules seems impossible. But is it really? 

We take a look at the idea of Cena vs. The Rock vs. Batista and weigh up if it really is too much to ask.

Why The Match?

Firstly, why would WWE book Cena vs. The Rock vs. Batista?

Cena has bags of history with both men. But the main reason is WWE could settle an online debate over who is the greatest WWE star to have crossed over to acting.

All three are on a great run of form at the box office. Aligning the schedules and finding a suitable PLE are the two biggest challenges.

So let’s look at each guy’s filofax and see if we can get a date in the diary.

John Cena

Well, this one is easy. Cena has had arguably his best year with regard to the level of movies he’s starred in.

He played major roles in satisfying Amazon Prime popcorn flicks Ricky Stanicky, Argyle, and Die Hart 2: Die Harter. Coming up this summer are Jackpot!, Coyote vs. Acme, and Heads of State.

But Cena has done all his work on those movies. Cena has The Janson Directive to shoot but then he’s free as a bird.

Cena also confirmed he’s asked to take a break from Hollywood to concentrate on his 2025 retirement tour. Simply put, Cena isn’t an issue in preventing the Hollywood Triple Threat Showdown.

The Rock

The Rock’s Hollywood hiatus to build up to WrestleMania 40 has left him with an eye-watering list of major movies. Completed and set to be released in November 2024 are the hotly-anticipated sequel Moana 2 and the Christmas action-adventure Red One.

The Rock will need to do some serious promo for these movies to see out the year. Then he has the following films to complete: The Smashing Machine, Fast X: Part 2, the live-action remake of Moana, Big Trouble in Little China, San Andreas 2, Jungle Cruise 2, Doc Savage, and another unnamed Fast & Furious flick.

Dwayne is busy. He will also almost certainly compete at WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas either against Cody Rhodes or Roman Reigns.

The Rock being a member of the TKO Board means we will see him in WWE. So despite his busy schedule, The Great One would surely make time for the Threeway Film Fight.

Dave Bautista

His ongoing roles in the Dune and Gardens of the Galaxy movies have solidified Bautista as a Hollywood megastar. Before the end of 2024, we can expect to see him in My Spy: The Eternal City, The Killers Game, In The Lost Lands, and the Army of the Dead: Las Vegas TV series.

He’s also currently set to star in Aang: The Last Airbender, Grendel, The Last Showgirl, Universe’s Most Wanted, Afterburn, and Trap House. Bautista happily retired from WWE after his WrestleMania 35 showdown with Triple H.

He has shown no interest in returning to the WWE. His movie schedule has already prevented him from being inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.

WWE announced it would bestow the honor of Bautista in 2023 but he still hasn’t found the time to accept it. Bautista’s schedule and commitment to his movie career means he is the main reason we will probably never get the triple-threat movie stars match.

If Never, When?

On paper, it would seem that such a match could only take place at WrestleMania. But The Rock’s next two WrestleMania matches will surely be Cody Rhodes and Roman Reigns.

Cena’s final WrestleMania match will be in 2025. It will not be against The Rock and Batista.

Without the pressure of a WrestleMania main event, Cena vs. The Rock vs. Batista could take place at SummerSlam 2025. The venue for this event has not been announced.

If Bautista’s schedule is truly too tight to get back into ring shape, perhaps Cena faces The Rock one last time with Batista as the special guest referee. The summer is when America goes to the movies.

Maybe summer 2025 is when the three biggest movie stars ever to lace up a pair of wrestling boots go to the ring. WWE also needs to fill the 73,000-capacity U.S Bank Stadium on two consecutive nights in August 2026 for SummerSlam.

This would be the perfect location for Cena vs. The Rock vs. Batista. But Cena claims he will retire at the end of 2025.