John Cena On WWE Retirement Tour: “I Was Desperately Trying To Fail”
John Cena has revealed what he hoped to achieve with his WWE retirement run.
2025 was one of the highly reviewed years for the company, and not all storylines landed with the fans, as expected, including a few involving Cena.
The 48-year-old recently appeared for his first interview after retiring from wrestling. The 17-time World Champion competed in his final match at Saturday Night’s Main Event, where he lost to Gunther.
Speaking on What Do You Wanna Talk About? With Cody Rhodes, Cena claimed that he did not wish to leave WWE with a perfect record, but his retirement storyline was about taking risks.
He admitted that he was purposely testing the waters and trying to fail just so he could prove a point.
I want you to know that I am making brave, courageous decisions that will have polarizing and critical feedback. And I am still trying to fail. I am desperately trying to fail on my way out the door.
As a veteran performer, he aimed to not only entertain fans but also leave a lesson with the next generation of wrestlers about taking risks.
We could bitch and complain about a system that is archaic and doesn’t exist, or I could influence people to say, ‘Hey, you’ve got 52 live events this year. Do not be afraid to fail on camera.’
John Cena Discusses How His WrestleMania 41 Match Against Cody Rhodes Bombed
John Cena spoke about the criticism he received following his heel turn at Elimination Chamber, which made his WrestleMania 41 match against Cody Rhodes more personal.
Despite the match being criticized heavily, it was a run-of-the-mill presentation, creativity-wise.
You and me at WrestleMania? Hey, we’re going to try something different. We’re going to take a big swing — and holy sh*t, was it criticized. But I wasn’t going to just go out there and do the easy thing. I wanted to paint a different picture.
John Cena even accepted the failures that came along during his retirement year. He defended them by pointing out that it was not a sign of weakness, but was leadership by example.
A lot of folks would say, ‘Easy for you to say, everything you do is a hit.’ No, it’s not. Everything I do is criticized at a surgical level. But it won’t stop me from failing.
H/T: Ringside News