Just a few weeks before his last match, Intercontinental Champion John Cena has finally opened up about former multi-time champion Zack Ryder's WWE return.
Last seen in WWE in 2020, Ryder parted ways with the promotion and started his own journey on the independent scene as Matt Cardona.
On last week's episode of Friday Night SmackDown, Ryder appeared as the surprise challenger for LA Knight in the “Last Time is Now” tournament. Despite displaying tough competition, Ryder failed to secure the victory and advance in the tournament. However, a few days later on RAW Recap, Cena addressed the comeback and heaped Ryder with praise.
Glad to see his former ally return, Cena said, “I was very, very glad to see Zack Ryder come back. Matt is a personal friend of mine, I can speak candidly like that, and I've seen his mind grow. You wanna talk about always being curious and the quest for growth, the Zack Ryder I knew from a long time ago has accrued so much sports entertainment wisdom.”
He further said, “It's amazing when we have interactions, he'll tell me about his journey and be like ‘this is what you were trying to talk about before and I wasn't ready to understand it. I like rooting for people who are humble enough to admit when they're wrong, and always want to grow, and are doing things for the greater good of the business. Matt is certainly one of those guys, his wife Chelsea [Green] is one of those folks who take an opportunity and get the absolute best out of it. I was really happy to see Zack Ryder back.”
However, it was not just Ryder who returned after five years. Earlier yesterday, on the Nov. 17 edition of RAW in MSG, Dolph Ziggler, aka Nic Nemeth in TNA, also returned.
John Cena's emotional message before final Madison Square Garden WWE match
A few days ago, before Cena's final Madison Square Garden match on Nov. 17, he dropped an emotional message. With just a few dates left before his retirement, Cena said, “Over 23 years you’ve allowed me to have 544 matches on [RAW]. The most in WWE history,” Cena said. “My favorite match.. is my next one! Which will be our LAST ONE! Don’t miss our last chance to grace [the Madison Square Garden] ring as we say farewell to RAW live, Monday night on [Netflix] at 8pm ET!”
The 48-year-old is also set to battle Dominik Mysterio next week at Survivor Series: WarGames.
The Leader of Cenation is set to wrestle his last match on the Dec. 13 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event.
