WWE legend and 17-time World Champion John Cena appeared on “Insight With Chris Van Vliet” to discuss various topics, including his feelings heading into his final match.
Cena said, “Great, truly great. We’ve been able to put programming that’s held the attention of folks out there for a year, been able to leverage individual intellectual property and create attention through things like the time is now tournament, stuff like that’s important, even when you can’t be there, you kind of help him get eyes on the product. Gosh, I’m super excited about the 13th because they bought what I sold them. I would love for it to be, rather than just a tribute show, I want it to be a look ahead. I’ll have my last in-ring performance. That is for certain. I’m not doing anything after that. But in doing so in the night too, we get big WWE Superstars so they can say they were on the card in non-canon exhibition matches against the best and brightest we got in NXT. So gosh, what a way to go out. Using those few hours that Peacock has given us and Netflix internationally to be able to say goodbye to a chapter in my life that’s very important, and in doing so, hopefully get eyes on what could be the next two-decade run, or maybe give somebody that boot in the butt that like, Yo, this is what the noise sounds like. I’m really, really happy, man. I feel great.”
On the reception to his retirement run:
“To be at these shows is something special, and we’ve had great moments come out of these shows. I’m not saying I’m the sole driving force behind it, but a lot of people are showing up to be like, ‘Man, this is the last time I can see John.’ And then the show’s been great enough to be like, ‘Yeah, but I want to watch them fight too.’ So I’m very happy they bought it, and I think I would say everyone internally is happy, and I would say everyone externally has an opinion about it, which is good. Here we are in early December, looking forward to the 13th. I don’t think there is apathy out there. I know some people are critical of it. Some people may be upset, some people may be overjoyed, but there isn’t apathy, and I think that means we did okay.”
On criticism of his final run:
“It’s part of what we do. That is absolutely part of what we do. I love it because it’s vocal and it starts a conversation. That’s the thing. I’ve been part of this live criticism pit since WrestleMania Triple H or fighting Kurt Angle. That’s what people don’t understand, I am criticized all the time.”
On if the heel turn was planned from the start:
“No, that stuff you see on Unreal is real. ‘We need to make Chamber big, so let’s do something that’ll shock everybody.’ ‘Hey, man, we got this idea.’ No problem, I’ll do the best I can.”
On if he was excited about it:
“I’m excited about everything. I like the riddle. You see my stuff. I’m not exactly the most gifted athletic performer. I give you all I got.”
On how he felt about the heel run:
“This is just my perspective. What I like is people are talking about it. And the cool thing is, people who are critical of it, apparently had some idea in their head about what they wanted, which is great, because that means you’re attached, that means you care. I enjoy that, and I hear that criticism. When we did it, we did it as a big moment, but with a purpose. Hey, this is going to ignite something with you and Cody. It’s going to start in February and end in August, because you only have 36 broadcasts and Intuit and Rumble are gone. So now we’re down to 34. Then we need some on the back end, with you actually being a good guy. So let’s take it down to 24. We kind of have to tell a story that should be two years long, 52 weeks a year, plus 14 to 18 PLES. We got to do it in like 20 episodes of television. Okay, so it took my focus on Cody, on the championship and on frustrations that I’ve had, it all comes from a genuine place, things I could say. I’m so happy to say that I wouldn’t retread the course, because I gave everything I had my poor wife. I’d wake up in the middle of the night writing promo lines and thinking about spots and stuff. The opponents I had were great, but I remember everyone talking in February and be like, this is how things change. Yes, this is a good plan. Okay, guys, if I’m gonna ruin this thing, like I’m gonna I’m gonna wrestle methodically, I have an idea of what ruining wrestling is.”
You can check out the complete podcast in the video below.
