John Cena Got Backstage Heat During WWE Retirement Tour

John Cena may be the GOAT, but even he falters at times.

One such incident occurred during his retirement tour, specifically at the WWE Crown Jewel PLE in October 2025.

Cena faced AJ Styles in a singles match, renewing their popular rivalry from the mid-2010s for one evening.

The match was an absolute classic, as both wrestlers exchanged incredible offense, paying tribute to several of their rivals from both WWE and TNA.

John Cena’s Tribute To AJ Styles Got Him Heat

Before ring announcer Alicia Taylor could announce AJ Styles, the 17-time World Champion stopped her, pulled out a piece of paper, and asked her to read from it.

What Taylor read was John Cena’s tribute to his fellow veteran, phrased in words that highlighted The Phenomenal One’s past with other wrestling promotions.

The introduction took everyone by surprise, even the higher-ups backstage, who apparently had no idea about it.

While speaking about the incident on Chris Van Vliet’s Insight, John Cena revealed that he had rubbed certain people the wrong way, admitting that he had messed up and that he could have approached the situation differently.

I just wanted to do something nice for my guy. I didn’t even show Alicia until I handed her the paper. You don’t get those moments unless you get the sh*t beat up. I wanted to do something special.

I went about it the wrong way. I went into business for myself. I should have gotten permission to do that, and I would have gotten permission to do that, but I told no one about it, because I wanted to do something special, and in doing so, the people running the show felt surprised, and that’s not a position I ever want to put them in because they award me such creative liberty.

Cena also revealed that he spoke to the WWE executives later on and personally apologized to them.