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When John Cena formally announced that he was retiring from professional wrestling during a surprise segment in the middle of Money in the Bank, it sent shockwaves through the professional wrestling world.
Fans quickly pulled up the announced WWE schedule to find their closest chance to catch “The Champ” in the ring once more, pundits began to chronicle his professional wrestling career as it comes to an end, and wrestlers inside and out of WWE began to cue up for one final shot at “The Face That Runs the Place” before he hangs up the jorts once and for all.
Discussing what it's been like to work alongside Cena for the better part of her professional wrestling career, Bayley used some time in a recent interview with US Weekly to put over the 16-time champion, noting that he was always willing to help others out, even if they weren't in a storyline together.
“I said, ‘John, if there's anything you think is missing from the women's division or anything specific you think I should work on, what should it be?' It turned into this hour-long conversation, and it all came down to storytelling,” Bayley told US Weekly. “What's the story we're trying to tell tonight? Don't think about what they want, what he wants, what you want. It's all about storytelling. He wants to give back in a way that not everybody does. He has such unique information that he can share. It brings us back to why we got into it. Having him around to have conversations has been really great.”
While Cena may still have a reputation for being a career killer from his time undercutting Wade Barrett and company before they could land on his level, it's encouraging to learn that he was such a valuable tool for young grapplers like Bayley coming up, as they are now the locker room leaders responsible for teaching the ropes to the next generation.
Triple H explains why 2025 is the right time for John Cena to retire
Discussing John Cena's forthcoming exit from WWE, a collaborative effort between the two sides that the promotion initiated, Paul “Triple H” Levesque detailed why Money in the Bank was the right time to make the announcement, as in professional wrestling, it's hard to keep secrets for too long.
“John has been talking about seeing the end coming. For athletes, you get there. With John's schedule, it doesn't get any easier. Especially when you're away from it, to come back from it as an athlete. To come back and basically put your body through a trainwreck, it's tough. You get to a place where mentally, you love it, and you think you can keep doing it. Physically, your body is telling you, ‘Dude, that is enough.' He has been talking about it. It just came to be,” Triple H explained at the Money in the Bank media scrum via Fightful.
“‘If I did it, this would be a way I would like to do it.' It was a conversation that happened over time. What would the timing be? How would we work that out. A lot of T's and I's to cross and dot. John has earned the right ten times over to be able to do this how he wants to do it. I'm thrilled to sit next to him and figure out how he wants to do it and how we can make that ride happen not only for him, but for all of you. This will be extraordinary and phenomenal and we've been thinking about it for a while. As far as doing it at Money in the Bank, the timing was just right. Secrets are hard to keep in this business. Once we got to a place, ‘we're running the risk of this getting out there. Let's just talk about it.”
While fans did know that Cena was in Toronto on the same day as Money in the Bank, as pictures leaked of him in the city on the day of the show, there was no major rumor that he was going to announce his retirement at the show, let alone spend a full year bouncing around the world on WWE's dime on a 30-40+ date tour. If Levesque wanted to get that out before it inevitably leaked, then he did a very good job. Then again, the real job comes in January, when Triple H and the rest of WWE's creative department have to close out one of the greatest careers in WWE history.
