WWE Hall of Famer JBL appeared on an episode of Something to Wrestle With, where he discussed various topics, including John Cena’s final match airing as part of Saturday Night’s Main Event on Peacock instead of NBC.
JBL said, “I’m okay with it because obviously they thought it through. They thought all this stuff through. And now, Peacock is also — how will you see this if you’re in Europe or Asia or Africa or South America? How [do] we see John’s last match?”
On the decision:
“So I mean, that’s where I think you get. The massive distribution globally, is what you get. And you know, they’ve got all these TV deals already. It’s just a matter of who you’re gonna throw the bone to, I think is the most important thing. So I’m sure they looked at this and said, Okay, this is the most important place to put this. I’m sure that’s how they looked at it, rather than the other way around. Like, ‘Okay, we’re going to get this the most broad distribution. It’s ‘Where’s the most important place for our business and our model to put this?’ And that was — obviously that appears to be Peacock.”
On Cena’s retirement being a way to make WWE fans keep Peacock:
“I do too. Yeah, I do too [want to see the match]. And so I’m gonna keep Peacock, at least through John’s last match. I’m sure I’ll keep it after that, I don’t hardly cancel anything. I got too many — I think I still have an old Vine subscription, probably and a Tout. So I probably need to go through my subscriptions. But I’m not getting rid of it, and I don’t see anybody would. I mean, can you imagine negotiation with Peacock and you’re saying, ‘Here’s what we’re doing. We’ll give you Saturday Night’s Main Event. We’re also giving you John Cena’s last match. One of, if not the greatest of all time.’ I mean, that’s pretty much it. That’s a microphone drop in the negotiation room.”
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(H/T to 411Mania.com for transcribing the above quotes)
