WWE WrestleMania 34: Jinder Mahal Challenges John Cena

The rumored main event for WWE WrestleMania 34 has been Brock Lesnar vs. Roman Reigns for quite some time, but could Jinder Mahal face off John Cena in another marquee matchup on the grandest stage of them all?

Jinder Mahal’s reign as WWE Champion has surpassed AJ Styles’s, but the reactions to his time on top have been mixed, to put it kindly. Most of the matches Mahal has been involved in contain the same finish with interference from the Singh Brothers, and the quality of these matches has been subpar. The fact that Mahal is pushing through a shoulder injury hasn’t helped, but the promos that the creative team has written for Mahal have made it difficult to forgive the boring matches.

Although it seems like a nightmare scenario for some fans, Mahal could hold the title until WWE WrestleMania 34. If that is the case, or if Mahal drops the title and wins it back before ‘Mania, he has interest in facing John Cena, stating that he is the opponent he would like to face at WrestleMania. It isn’t a surprise to hear this, because Mahal is a Champion who wants to face the best of the best to prove himself.

Cena and Mahal have faced off once before on an episode of SmackDown Live, with Cena winning via disqualification thanks to Baron Corbin. That match between Mahal and Cena was overshadowed by Corbin’s failed cash-in on Mahal following the match, as Cena played a hand in Corbin losing his Money in the Bank briefcase.

There is some history between these two, but a WrestleMania match between Mahal and Cena would be a disaster. While it could be a way for Cena to make a statement, is this really the right opponent for him to break Ric Flair’s historic 16-championship record with a 17th victory? Cena is at his best when working with accomplished wrestlers like AJ Styles or Daniel Bryan, not someone like Mahal who has yet to prove he can carry a championship program in the ring. Mahal’s had solid matches with Roman Reigns and Cesaro in his latest stint with WWE, but there’s a difference between having a decent undercard match and having a great WrestleMania match.

Mahal’s challenge to Cena is nothing more than a publicity stunt now that he’ll be touring in India as a babyface, so I wouldn’t read too much into it for now. But the WWE has been behind Mahal as a champion for longer than we expected, even if they have been hiding him from the main events of pay per views and SmackDown Live episodes.