John Cena Reveals Huge Surprise About Scrapped WWE Crown Jewel Plans

John Cena was part of an epic clash at Crown Jewel in Perth, Australia, last year.

His match against AJ Styles received rave reviews for being highly entertaining and for the numerous tributes they paid to their former colleagues and legends along the way.

However, if WWE had not pivoted from its original plans, fans would not have gotten a Cena vs. Styles match; instead, it would have been Drew McIntyre taking The Phenomenal One’s spot.

The 17-time World Champion revealed the details during a recent appearance on the No-Contest Wrestling podcast.

I try to plan it as a year of creative experiences, but you have to be able to pivot. You don’t have Rock, you don’t have Travis (Scott). ‘We’re going to do this and this.’ AJ was supposed to be Drew. We pivoted.

Cena claimed that fan response was one of the key reasons behind the company’s decision to divert.

You want to have a feel-good moment because they were listening to the data points. They do. It’s real. You have the Brock moment, people are pissed off. You have the AJ moment, and things are great.

You have this three-appearance run with Dom, which is fun. Then, the Ring General.

Oba Femi Wanted To Wrestle John Cena

Since relinquishing the NXT Championship at New Year’s Evil, Oba Femi has made quite the splash on the main roster.

Despite not being signed to any particular brand, The Ruler has appeared on Raw and SmackDown, and was even a showstopper at the 2026 Royal Rumble.

In an earlier episode of the No-Contest Wrestling podcast, Femi admitted to missing out on wrestling John Cena, even wanting to be the one who retired him instead of Gunther.

I really wanted to work with John. I was really hoping and praying, ‘Don’t go, don’t go too fast.’ But he did. I was really hoping to work with him, especially when a lot of people were putting fire under the idea of me being the one to retire him and stuff like that. I was really hoping that would happen, but it didn’t.

Also read: John Cena Got Backstage Heat During WWE Retirement Tour