00:00Everything you need to know about John Cena's retirement tour. CM Punk wants one of his
00:05final matches, and Triple H has addressed that Money in the Bank botch. I'm Luke Owen
00:10and this is the WrestleTalk News.
00:18A few hours before WWE Money in the Bank kicked off, Fightful Select were tipped off by one
00:23of their backers that John Cena was in Toronto ahead of the PPV. Fightful Select could not
00:28confirm if Cena would be on the show, and if he was, in what capacity, and there might
00:32have been a reason why it was kept so tight lipped.
00:35Trish Stratus brought out John Cena halfway through Money in the Bank as a surprise, and
00:39he revealed his tell now bore the words, the last time is now. Quickly it was spotted that
00:45his new t-shirt design was one that said he was on a retirement tour, and that would become
00:50the basis of his promo, because John Cena has announced that he is retiring from wrestling.
00:56So why here, why now, and why at Money in the Bank in Canada?
01:00Cena spoke about his 20 years in WWE, and said that he's seen the company go through
01:04a lot. WWE is currently the hottest wrestling ticket in town, and the crowds are so much
01:09louder now than they have been for WWE's wrestling in years. He's said that he's
01:14seen WWE be hot, but he's also seen WWE be ice cold. But even on those cold shows,
01:21Canada always showed up. Canada was always loud. And so he wanted to announce his retirement
01:26in front of the Canadian audience that always told him how they felt about him, both positive
01:32and negative. He said that WWE was moving forward and making history, including moving
01:37Raw to Netflix in 2025, and he wants to be part of that history. So he will be on Raw
01:42on Netflix in 2025. But it will be his last. The 2025 Royal Rumble will be his last. The
01:502025 Elimination Chamber will be his last. And WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas in 2025 will
01:57be his last. He announced that he would be on the post-show press conference, and thanked
02:02the fans for always showing up for him. This was clearly an emotional moment for Cena,
02:07who had to hold back the tears at several points, and Michael Cole ended off the segment
02:10by saying that he has called so many of John Cena's big matches, and he really does believe
02:16that he is the greatest of all time. It was so interesting hearing Cena talk about how
02:21hot WWE is right now, as he is someone who saw, and was actually on top for, a lot of
02:27the dark period of WWE. The competition-less WWE, where it felt like the show was coasting.
02:32Creative lows, bored crowds, and that seeming lack of ambition. The WWE we have now in 2024
02:38is worlds apart from the WWE we had between 2002 and 2022. And a lot of fans, particularly
02:46ones around my age, those fans in their mid-to-late 30s and early 40s and older, have gone through
02:51their own journeys with Big Match John. He was booed out of every building he was in
02:55for a reason, and some of that was because he was this cartoon goofball who just wasn't
03:00as cool as the top guys during the era when we were kids and teenagers. But we all grew
03:05out of our dumb 20s and began to appreciate Cena's work, especially during that fantastic
03:09US Open run. And his work outside of WWE, where it turns out, he's actually quite
03:14a good actor. No idea where this good actor was hiding during all of those stilted promos
03:19he did when he was WWE Champion. Make no mistake about it, this is a monumental announcement.
03:25One of wrestling's biggest draws of all time is hanging up the jorts for good. But
03:31the promo on Money in the Bank left off some key details, like his final match will not
03:36be at WrestleMania next year. At the post-show press conference, Cena was asked about why
03:41he decided now was the right time to retire. It turns out that this is something that Cena
03:46has been thinking about for a while, and said that it was actually WWE that reached out
03:51to him to suggest that now would be the time. He said, I approached the WWE with this idea
03:57and they kind of initiated the talks. This would be a great span of time if we were ever
04:01going to do it. He added that WWE is doing incredible business at the moment, again mentioning
04:06that huge Netflix deal, but doesn't really feel like he's part of that. But he takes
04:10pride in still being an individual that WWE can call up and say, hey remember that idea
04:15you were talking about? We think the time is now. Cena added, I'm flattered that I
04:19was asked to be part of something like this. He also made reference to other retirements
04:23in wrestling and guys who just come back to the ring a few years after their final match.
04:28He wanted to be clear that this is it. He is done with wrestling once this retirement
04:33tour is over. He even ruled out things like being a special guest referee and taking bumps.
04:38He said, I will be a fan and an advocate and that is it. In his promo at Money in the Bank,
04:44Cena said that next year's Royal Rumble, Elimination Chamber and WrestleMania would
04:48be his last ones. Which led to a lot of speculation that he would have his retirement match at
04:54WrestleMania. However, there's more to it than that. Much like Bryan Danielson and Sting
04:59in All Elite Wrestling, Cena has a lot planned for his final year in the ring. That's right,
05:05the entire year. He told the press conference, it's not going to end at WrestleMania. WrestleMania
05:11will be my last WrestleMania, but hopefully if everything goes to plan, we're going
05:16straight through from January to December. He did admit that he's got a lot of things
05:21to juggle, but reckons if all works out, he should do between 30 and 40 dates with
05:27WWE in 2025. But come 2026, John Cena will not be completely done with WWE. He told the
05:36press conference that part of his retirement agreement is that he will be remaining in
05:40the WWE family in some capacity for an extended time to come. He said that WWE is his home.
05:47So no, John Cena to AEW confirmed gimmicks, thank you kindly, and although he is distancing
05:53himself from wrestling, he's not entirely leaving WWE. He said, I look forward to ending
05:57my participation in the ring in the best way that I possibly can and being a member of
06:02the extended WWE family. He was also asked about his final opponent, noting that he had
06:06a stare down with The Rock at this past WrestleMania. Cena said that he doesn't have the power
06:10to handpick his matches, and he's just excited to see what stories they can tell as part
06:15of this retirement tour and to see who will be part of it. He did rule out a heel turn
06:20as part of the press conference, saying that he wants to be honest with himself during
06:23his final year, but was not asked about the possibility of winning a world title one more
06:28time and breaking the Ric Flair record. Speaking on that subject on Wrestling Observer Radio,
06:34Dave Meltzer speculated, I don't know if they would want it, but they may want it.
06:39They may want to be able to market him as the greatest of all time and the person who
06:44has held the most world titles. How would you book John Cena's retirement? Let me
06:48know in the comments down below. But one person who does want to throw his hat into the ring
06:52for a final match is CM Punk. CM Punk, fresh off screwing Drew McIntyre at yet another
06:59PPV, was also part of the Money in the Bank press conference, where he was asked about
07:03John Cena's retirement and his thoughts on it. He joked, I texted him right away and
07:08said, don't leave before you say hi to me and he texted back, haha have a good one tonight
07:13and I immediately took that as, piss off I'm leaving. Although Cena said during the press
07:17conference that he would be done with wrestling once 2025 is over, thus adhering to the retirement,
07:23Punk thinks he can be the man to change his mind. He said, I told him I'll be the guy
07:28that drags him out of retirement. This retirement that he says he's going to adhere to and
07:33this is it and when the final one happens that's going to be it, like yeah, 15 years,
07:38I'll drag him out of retirement. Punk opened up about their careers being tied
07:43together and added, I'm looking forward to what he does and I told him if it's going
07:47to be one more time, we gotta do it at least one more time.
07:52Who would you like to have part of John Cena's final matches? Let me know in the comments
07:56down below. Triple H thanked John Cena for all he's done
07:59for WWE over the years and said that he's very proud to watch him grow from his time
08:03in OVW all the way to calling his own shot and retiring on his own terms.
08:08But that wasn't all that Triple H was asked about. During the Seth Rollins vs. Damien
08:12Priest World Heavyweight Championship match, Priest did not kick out of a Falcon Arrow
08:16and the referee had to fake a near fall. It was a clear botch and one that Triple H addressed
08:21head on. He said, human beings in the ring, mistakes
08:24happen, things happen. It is what it is. It's funny for me now looking at it that if that
08:30was something I was involved in as a talent, I don't care how good the rest of it was,
08:35that would be all I would think about. I hate for it to be like, oh yeah, you're that one
08:40guy who didn't kick out that one time. That's the shame part for me, because his performance
08:44tonight was off the charts. As was Seth's, as was Drew's, as was Punk's, as was everybody
08:50else in this show tonight. It's just the way the world works.
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