John Cena's WWE WrestleMania 39 Match Officially Announced

John Cena officially accepted a match for WrestleMania 39 on tonight’s Monday Night Raw, as he’ll challenge Austin Theory for the United States Championship in Los Angeles next month. Cena arrived at the TD Garden Arena to a hero’s welcome from the Boston crowd, only to be cut off by Theory. The brash, young champion talked about his childhood fandom for Cena, then offered up a challenge for WrestleMania. Cena initially rejected the match, saying Theory wasn’t ready for it. He claimed “A-Town Down” was stuck in his “Ruthless Aggression” phase, and that neither he nor the fans actually care about Theory because he doesn’t believe his own words week after week.

Theory tried to fire back by claiming Cena was going back on his “Never Give Up” motto by running away from the match. Cena responded by saying Theory would lose everything in the match whether he won (and would have to show up on Raw the next night without having Cena as a crutch to play off of) or lost (his US title). But the 16-time world champion said he’d never give up on the fans, and their loud reaction prompted him to accept the match.