Fans of professional wrestling have been treated to many “dream matches” — Hogan-versus-Flair, Lesnar-versus-Undertaker, Corbin-versus-Cara — but one has always remained a tantalizing but unrequited wish: John Cena versus Randy Orton.

With Cena transitioning into a part-time role with WWE, and Orton turning 55 this year, fans are beginning to wonder if they ever see what some pundits are calling the Dream Match of the Century.

It seems remarkable — almost unbelievable — that Orton and Cena have never actually collided in the squared circle. One would only assume that they battled one another as rookies in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), where Cena was known as “The Prototype” and Orton was known as Cowboy Ace Bob Orton III.

During their stellar tenures on the main WWE roster, you’d think they would have wrestled one another at, say, SummerSlam 2007, or Unforgiven months later, or No Way Out after that, or Backsplash, or Slapdash, or Payday, or Slapchop.

But no — Orton and Cena have always been like two ships in the night, seemingly on a collision course but never fulfilling the scintillating promise of a showdown.

“It’s impossible to predict who would win a once-in-a-lifetime match between Cena and Orton,” writes veteran wrestling journalist Dan Mutzler.

“It’ll probably never happen, though,” Mutzler added. “Fans will just have to imagine it, like how they’ll always wonder what would happen if Dolph Ziggler faced The Miz.”