John Cena advertised for final WWE SmackDown before WrestleMania

John Cena is making at least one more appearance on WWE television before WrestleMania.

WWE.com now lists Cena for the Friday, April 18 episode of SmackDown at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The show is taking place on the eve of WrestleMania 41 night one. It’s expected that Cena’s match against Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes will headline night two of the event.

During WWE’s European tour in March, the newly heel Cena appeared on Raw three straight weeks, building up his match against Rhodes with confrontations on every episode. Their March 31 interaction ended with Rhodes laying out Cena with Cross Rhodes.

Cena is not advertised for this Friday’s SmackDown in Seattle, Washington nor next Monday’s Raw in Sacramento, California. He is advertised for the post-WrestleMania editions of both Raw and SmackDown. If Cena defeats Rhodes, he’ll be on his 17th reign as WWE Champion when those shows happen.

This will be the final WrestleMania that Cena ever competes at. He’s retiring from the ring in December 2025.