Possible Spoiler For John Cena's Final WWE SmackDown Appearance

For the final time in his in-ring career, John Cena will appear on "WWE SmackDown," with tonight's edition emanating from the Allstate Arena in Chicago, Illinois. On such occasion, Cena will reportedly be facing off with an old adversary, whom he last locked up with one-on-one over a decade ago.

According to BodySlam, Cena is set to take on the newly-crowned WWE United States Champion, Sami Zayn, on Friday edition's of "SmackDown." Cena and Zayn's last singles match stretches back all the way to 2015, when WWE Hall of Famer Bret "The Hitman" Hart introduced Zayn as the surprise opponent for Cena's U.S. Open Challenge. At the time, Zayn was a regular fixture on "WWE NXT" and a former NXT Champion. Meanwhile, Cena held weekly open challenges as the United States Champion on WWE's main roster; this specific one took place in Zayn's hometown of Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

It is unclear if Zayn's upcoming match with Cena will also involve the United States Championship, though it is said to be an homage to their aforementioned encounter from 2015. Outside of Royal Rumbles, Cena and Zayn have shared the ring only two other times, one of them being a six-pack challenge for the WWE Championship at Fastlane 2018. In December 2022, they met again, this time in a tag team match pitting Cena and Kevin Owens against Zayn and Roman Reigns.

Cena will wrap up his wrestling career in December. En route, he will also reportedly face Brock Lesnar, who is slated to be in Chicago this week as well.