The number of potential challengers for John Cena's 17th WWE Championship reign continues to stack up. In John Cena's mission statement to ruin wrestling, multiple challengers are stepping to the plate to challenge Cena in an effort to save the sport. Randy Orton will be the first, as his Backlash title match against his old foe has been announced, while possible contenders like CM Punk are waiting in the wings.

However, out of all these WWE Superstars, only one is most deserving of dethroning John Cena: R-Truth. During the latest episode of Friday Night SmackDown, John Cena and R-Truth briefly shared the space in a backstage promo together, reminding fans of their history and perhaps even foreshadowing a collision for the future.

The average fan will scratch their heads and shrug their shoulders at the thought of a comedy act beating a franchise player for the World Title, but R-Truth is no stranger to main events in and out of WWE, and he has enough history with Cena to justify a feel-good storyline twist.

R-Truth Already Has a Historic Career in Wrestling

Ron Killings Has Accolades Outside of the WWE

WWE fans who have only been watching the product within the past decade will know R-Truth as someone who has produced some of WWE's funniest moments, but career-wise, Truth is more than a comedy act. He proved that in the early 2000s, after being released from WWE for the first time after a tag team stint with Road Dogg. In 2002, he was a main event player during the earliest days of TNA. Not only did he win the NWA World Heavyweight Champion, but in doing so, he became TNA's second World Champion ever, and the first ever African-American NWA World Champion.

The NWA Championship is one of historical significance, held by WWE Hall of Famers like Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes, as well as modern favorites like Cody Rhodes, AJ Styles, and even SmackDown General Manager Nick Aldis. The Truth (then wrestling under his real name, Ron Killings) having his name alongside those greatest is a testament to his skillset. His reign as NWA Champion was especially impressive as he acted as a serious threat, and was treated as such in the main event picture. He'd cut scathing, intense promos ahead of some banger matches during his TNA run.

The One Time R-Truth Was in WWE's Main Event Picture

Main Eventing Multiple Pay-Per-Views, Including a WWE Championship Match with John Cena

The closest that WWE would come to utilizing R-Truth in the main event came in 2011, three years after returning to the company as a fun-loving, dancing babyface. On the April 18 episode of Monday Night Raw, Truth would suddenly snap by attacking his then-tag team partner, John Morrison, in a shocking heel turn made even more surprising when he lit a cigarette in the middle of the arena and blew smoke in Morrison's face during the attack. This was a side of Truth unlike ever before seen in WWE or even TNA.

Truth had become bitter with fans, particularly the children he'd refer to collectively as the "Little Jimmys" of the world, for cheering their favorites for being cheerful and colorful instead of hard workers like himself. The biggest target for his frustrations would be then-WWE Champion John Cena, culminating in a main event title match at July's Capitol Punishment. Despite his losing effort, this wouldn't be the last time that Truth would headline a WWE PPV that year. He'd soon form an alliance with The Miz, becoming Awesome Truth. Together, they'd become WWE's top heel act.

Most notably, Awesome Truth closed out Hell in a Cell 2011, disrupting the main event title match, inciting a roster-wide brawl until the duo was arrested. They'd enter a feud with onscreen authority figure, Triple H, defeating him and CM Punk at the following PPV, Vengeance. The only way to end the dastardly pair's reign of terror was for The Rock to return to the ring for his first wrestling match in seven years, ing forces with John Cena to defeat Awesome Truth in the main event of Survivor Series. Subsequently, Truth would turn face again and has remained as such since.

R-Truth Can Be Taken Seriously as a World Championship Contender

If WWE Commits, Fans Will Buy into R-Truth

It's hard to imagine R-Truth as a villain now when he's so beloved by audiences, but when WWE committed to letting Truth be the company's top heel both as a singles star and in his pairing with Miz, the WWE fans accepted it. Truth was widely hated and, in-storyline, especially with The Miz, he was considered a high-stakes problem that needed to be dealt with. The same can be said when he battled for the World Championship. WWE booked him seriously, and so audiences treated him seriously just the same.

That's all WWE needs to do to make R-Truth challenging for the WWE Championship in 2025 sound plausible: just commit to it. Fans love R-Truth, and as much as fans want to cheer Cena during his retirement tour, it's likely that their immense love for Truth will supersede that for Cena, creating an ideal scenario for a beloved hero vs. hated bad guy. The history is there between them, not only for their 2011 feud, but the more recent comedy schtick in which Truth idolizes Cena as his "childhood hero." History always yields for the best storylines, and the same would be the case for a Truth vs. Cena program.

What About John Cena's Other Contenders?

Do the Rest Make a Case for Winning the WWE Championship?

As said earlier, the number of contenders against John Cena is high, but few (if any, arguably) make a stronger case to win the WWE Championship from him quite like R-Truth does. Randy Orton has a lot of history with Cena, but considering that he is Cena's first challenger ahead of Cena's retirement tour not ending until December, winning is unlikely. Orton beating Cena also wouldn't be as exciting of an option given they've traded wins back and forth for so many years. The same can be said for CM Punk, who, as much as revisiting their feud presents another nostalgia trip, it's not the most exciting of prospects.

Punk edges out Orton for the fact that a win at least gives Punk his first WWE Championship reign in over a decade, creating a special moment, but even then, he's currently preoccupied with his storyline with Paul Heyman's new stable, as is Roman Reigns. Seth Rollins is shoulder-to-shoulder with Cena as WWE's top heel, but a heel defeating a heel isn't an ideal scenario either. Cody Rhodes could always return to redeem his WrestleMania 41 loss, but having Cena's heel takeover culminate in the title going right back to Rhodes is a little underwhelming.

What is R-Truth's Case for Beating John Cena?

Why R-Truth Should Become the Next WWE Champion?

With such a prominent storyline, audiences want to see a special moment that could only happen in that story being told. There's always a future where Orton, Punk, Reigns, and Rhodes can become World Champions again without needing to defeat John Cena for it. For R-Truth to become a World Champion, this is probably the last chance, and the best way for audiences to accept it.

With all respect to R-Truth, he's been a comedy actor for so long that the idea of Truth as World Champion is a tough sell for modern audiences unaware of his past in the main event picture. Comedy helped his career more than it hurt by giving him longevity, but it also placed him into a box that's impossible for him to break out of without the right story. This would be the right story. In this scenario, Truth beating John Cena isn't just about Truth winning his first WWE Championship, but a representation of the fans whom Cena turned his back on.

As a comedy character directly inspired by the Hustle, Loyalty, and Respect mantra of John Cena, Truth is the last remnant of who Cena used to be and a representation of everything Cena now despises about wrestling. When he was a babyface, John Cena was the kind of hero who would be called upon to save wrestling against someone hoping to kill wrestling and ruin it. To save wrestling, Truth must use the ethics that made John Cena a childhood staple to defeat him and win his title. R-Truth winning the WWE Championship is as much a poetic storybook ending as it is a feel-good moment.