John Cena Makes Emotional Confession: “I Waited On That For 25 Years”

John Cena recently recalled an early period in his wrestling career that came full circle after his final match.

At Saturday Night’s Main Event XLII, Cena lost to Gunther in what was his last wrestling match on record. Much to the chagrin of the live audience and viewers worldwide, the 17-time world champion tapped out to The Ring General’s chokehold.

After the match, his bosses and peers surrounded the ring, giving him a proper sendoff after dedicating 23 years of his life to the business.

John Cena also had backstage interactions, including one with veteran William Regal, which he touched up during a recent interview, tying it to one of the earlier conversations he had with the Brit when he started competing.

John Cena’s Emotional Confession Featuring William Regal

Despite not having achieved much glory in WWE, William Regal is known to be one of the best technical wrestlers on the planet.

While speaking on the No-Contest Wrestling podcast, John Cena revisited one of his interactions with Regal earlier on in his career.

I remember getting an opportunity to do some dark matches for Anaheim and LA runs, and I share this moment with, I call him Commissioner Regal, William Regal. And, man, you wanna talk about one hell of a callback we shared the story for each other for years about, like, I just had some bad matches. It was blocky, unorthodox, as Michael Cole would call it. I know the man in the mirror.

I really idolized William Regal; that European Fit Finlay, that catches catch can-style, like, I loved the kinesesthetic awareness of it. I loved how it was just physical poetry. So, he was there, and I asked, “Hey, did you see my match?” “Yes.” “How was it?” His feedback was, “Lad, if you can get yourself a pair of boots, at least you’ll look like a proper wrestler.”

And I was like, here’s the thing, perception is reality. I was like, “All I need is a pair of boots?!” Like that’s how I took it. But obviously, he was being very polite , but very stiff upper lip, and it was the shits. So, he was honest. But thank goodness he didn’t tell me it was bad, cuz I was wrestling in bodybuilding otomix shoes. And I was like, “Yo, I just gotta get boots. Invest in yourself” is what I took away from it.

In the callback of all callbacks, the night I retired, he literally came up to me and said, “Even without boots, you’re still a proper wrestler.” And, like, the day was real busy, but all he needed was one sentence. You never know what the effect one someone one sentence can have. That was like a 25-year callback. I’m like, I waited on that for 25 years. [22:02 onwards]

Also read: John Cena On Scrapped WWE Plans To Dethrone Roman Reigns