The 5th Crown Jewel in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is just a day away. Fans are excited about the main event match between Roman Reigns and LA Knight. They are also equally excited about the title match between Seth Rollins and Drew McIntyre. But the WWE universe is keeping a close watch on the match between John Cena and Solo Sikoa as that will determine Cena’s future in the WWE. This will also be Solo Sikoa’s first 1-on-1 PLE match. And just like Sikoa, many stars have made their PLE debut against Cena in the last 20 years.

So let’s take a look at what these wrestlers are up to these days.

Six wrestlers in total have made their 1-on-1 PLE debut against John Cena

John Cena is a legend in the WWE and his career spans over 20+ years. During these 2 decades, he has faced multiple wrestlers, many of whom are not even in the WWE anymore. But that just goes to show that Cena has stood the test of time as far as popularity is concerned.

During his illustrious career, 6 wrestlers in total have made their solo PLE debut against The Cenation Leader. Solo Sikoa will be the 7th one to do so at Crown Jewel on Saturday. So let’s take a look at the other 6 wrestlers.

1. René Duprée (2004)

Duprée made his debut in the WWE on RAW in 2003 as part of the tag team La Résistance. They even went on to win the World Tag Team Championship by defeating Kane and Rob Van Dam at Bad Blood in 2003. Thus making him the youngest wrestler in WWE history to win a championship at 19 years old during that time.

Then in 2004, he made his SmackDown debut and got into a feud with John Cena. This culminated in a match at Judgment Day for the United States Championship. And as always, Cena emerged victorious that night. Duprée finally left the WWE in 2007 and went on to wrestle in the independent circuit. His last wrestling job was with Pro Wrestling Noah from 2020 to 2022. Post that, he turned his focus to his weekly podcast Cafe De Rene.

2. Jesús (2004)

Jesús made his debut in the WWE in 2000. But he became part of the main storyline after getting into a rivalry with John Cena. Cena was already feuding with Carlito at that time. He eventually became the United States Champion by defeating Carlito. Post that, Jesús attacked Cena several times, which eventually led to a title match at Armageddon in 2004.

Read more: “Not Coming Back Till 10 In at Night”: John Cena Reveals His WWE Off Days Schedule During the Actors’ Strike

This was a Street Fight which Cena won. After that, Jesús underwent surgery for a torn groin and two herniated discs in his back. He was then released from the WWE in 2005. Post that he went on to wrestle in the independent circuit till 2012. However, the former wrestler seems to have dropped off the grid since.

3. Sheamus (2009)

This is the first time that Cena ever lost his championship to a debut star. Sheamus made his debut in ECW in June 2009. A few months later, he took part in a “break-through” battle royal to determine the number one contender for John Cena’s WWE Championship.

Sheamus was the last man standing in the ring that night and thus won a title shot against Cena at the TLC: Tables, Ladders and Chairs PPV. Sheamus won that match, thus winning his first WWE Championship ever. This also made him the first Irish-born WWE Champion. Needless to say, Sheamus is still active in the WWE. His most recent match was against his good pal Edge at his 25th-anniversary celebration in his hometown of Toronto, Canada.

4. Wade Barrett (2010)

Barrett took part in the first season of NXT. Then in June 2010, Barrette and 7 other wrestlers from NXT interfered in the main event match and started attacking John Cena and CM Punk. This group would go on to call themselves The Nexus. Cena was then involved in a heated feud with The Nexus as they cost him his WWE Championship at Fatal 4-Way against Sheamus.

Hence, to settle the matter once and for all, Cena set up a match against Barrett at Hell in a Cell. The match had the stipulation that if Cena won, The Nexus would disband, but if Cena lost, he would join The Nexus. Sadly, Cena lost that match and he reluctantly joined The Nexus. Post that, Barrett continued wrestling in the WWE and even won the Intercontinental Championship in December 2012.

Then later in 2017, he asked for his release from the WWE because of his crazy work schedule. He then went on to wrestle on the independent circuit and finally returned to the NXT brand in 2020 as a color commentator. Post that, he moved to SmackDown and is currently the commentator for the RAW brand.

5. John Laurinaitis (2012)

At the time, Laurinaitis was the GM for both RAW and SmackDown. Laurinaitis and Cena got into a feud over the former signing Brock Lesnar, who attacked Cena with an F-5. This led to a match between Laurinaitis and Cena at Over the Limit. Sadly, Cena lost this match after interference by The Big Show.

But Cena got vengeance when he defeated The Big Show at No Way Out in a steel cage match with both Laurinaitis and Cena’s job on the line. Post that, Laurinaitis was fired from his GM position. However, he continued to make sporadic appearances in the WWE till 2020. Then in 2021, he was re-hired by WWE as Head of Talent Relations. But in 2022, Laurinaitis was let go after the emergence of misconduct claims by women in the company against him.

6. Kevin Owens (2015)

The last of these 6 opponents is still alive and kicking in the WWE. And if all goes well, Kevin Owens might soon face Logan Paul as the two had a stare down on SmackDown the last time. But going back to his debut PLE match against Cena, Owens made his main roster debut in the WWE by responding to Cena’s United States Championship open challenge.

But instead of wrestling Cena, he attacked him and stomped on the United States Championship. This led to a non-title Champion vs Champion match at Elimination Chamber. Cena put on a tough fight, but eventually, Owens got the better of him that night and won the match. Thus announcing his arrival in the WWE with all his glory.

Keeping all this in mind, who do you think will emerge victorious on Saturday night at Crown Jewel?

Watch this story: John Cena Vs The Rock Who Has A Higher Net Worth