After securing a massive win over The Bloodline with the help of LA Knight in the penultimate match of Fastlane, John Cena took part in his first media scrum in quite some time and delivered the goods to an audience of media personalities interested in learning about his return to the WWE Universe.

Asked a rather simple question, how it felt to be back in WWE, Cena delivered an expressive, expansive answer that not only touched on his own longevity as a performer but also the state of the business as a whole; a business he believes might be in the biggest boom period of all time.

“So it's exceeded my expectations because the energy and the talent in the WWE locker room in the WWE locker room is incredible. I say this is, this is truly the golden age of sports entertainment. I don't think there's ever been a better time to be in the sports entertainment business, and in saying that I don't think there's ever been a better era in WWE. We can all romanticize about the Attitude Era, the Ruthless Aggression era, there are more opportunities to be a WWE Superstar than right now, and if there's ever an example of someone getting an inch and you make it a freakin' mile, it's this person to my left right here, LA Knight. And I don't know if that, if that happens in any other era just because of how few spots there were, so I'm overwhelmed by where the state of the union is at, but at the same time, I'm selfishly this trip back has been engaging for me to kind of test where I'm at and what the future holds for me,” John Cena told the audience at Fastlane's media call.

“And we all somehow watch the match, I was in the thing tonight, I got some work to do, and I got to realize that I got, I got to figure it out too to function at the level, to be able to perform at a level that is worthy of what I'm familiar with and what the audience is familiar with and that's selfishly what this episode in the WWE is, to kind of take stock of myself, where I feel physically at 46. I've told everybody you know that this ain't the last one, but I know that I can see the last one is on the horizon, so I'm just kind of taking stock of where I'm at, and I've always said I don't want to offend the WWE Universe with the effort I put out there, and I'm still trying to give all I got, but I got to work out some tweaks and finding my mojo somewhere so I'm grateful for my partner for picking up the slack tonight.”

Is Cena correct? Is this new Paul “Triple H” Levesque era of WWE history better than the Attitude Era, the Ruthless Aggression Era, and even the Golden Era of WWE before it? Maybe yes, maybe no, but what is certain is the maturity of his response, as it's clear Cena is coming to terms with his wrestling morality and yet is still looking for where he belongs in the landscape of the industry. That sort of introspection is honorable.

John Cena explains how the SAG-AFTRA strike has affected his return.

Later in his questioning, John Cena was asked about how the current SAG-AFTRA strike affected his return to WWE and if he will, in turn, return to Hollywood when a new deal is reached. To Cena's credit, he answered honestly, telling fans and reporters alike that his current run is entirely dependent on the movie industry's work stoppage.

“They do. I've made it clear that you can't do both because of the liability insurance,” Cena said. “If I were to try and juggle both, that's very selfish because I would put a whole lot of people in the movie business out of work if something were to happen to me. Yes, I stopped a project in the middle of it; I can't even talk about the project because of the strike, but we're in the middle of it. As soon as we get back to work, we go back to work. I don't control any of that. I'm crossing my fingers, and I hope we can find a resolve everyone is happy with. For right now, I feel this is the best way I can help. To come back home to my family.”

Could Cena return to WWE at some point in the future, even after the strike? Sure, he's done so in the past, and if he isn't insured against a future project, he'll be free to do as he likes. When that happens, however, remains to be seen, especially if he knows that his in-ring vitality is rapidly reaching its end.