Former WWE Champion Credits John Cena For Massive Impact On His Career
The retirement of John Cena has got a former WWE Champion feeling nostalgic about Cena’s incredible run in the company.
John Cena announced at WWE Money in the Bank in Toronto that he plans to retire as an in-ring competitor. Cena confirmed that the 2025 Royal Rumble will be his last as a wrestler, WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas will be his last as a wrestler and he’ll likely keep going until he finally retires at some point in late 2025.
That means that there will be a lot of reminiscing about the legacy of John Cena, who WWE’s Chief Content Officer Triple H recently called the “greatest of all time.”
Big E is a former WWE Champion who started on the main roster by attacking John Cena. Big E’s debut was on the December 17, 2012 edition of Raw when Big E debuted as a powerful ally of Dolph Ziggler and AJ Lee.
In an interview with Unlikely with Adrian Hernandez, Big E reflected on that debut that just so happened to involve the great John Cena. Big E was asked to name a moment that made him remember Cena.
“He’s done so much. Selfishly, I would say my one moment is my debut. My debut in Philly in 2012 was me leaving him laying, standing over him to close the show. That moment means so much because debuting on the main roster is incredible for everyone. But debuting like that, debuting, getting to stand over arguably the greatest of all time, he’s red-hot, he is clearly the guy, so that meant a lot to me. But yeah, there’s so many different things.”
“We had, I think about a year later, there was a backstage segment that led to a match, I think we wrestled The Shield, but it was me, Punk, and Cena, and there’s a deal where Renee was the interviewer at the time, we all put out hands in and did a little Shield deal. Even that moment of, like, man, I’m young in my career, but just being able to be in the ring with a guy like CM Punk, with John Cena, and me, man, there are so many incredible moments.”
Big E Thought “I’m Getting To See Greatness” When He Watched John Cena
As he continued, Big E went on to praise Cena for inspiring others.
“I think back to so many times when I first came on the road, it was always, ‘Oh, Cena’s match is about to be up,’ and so many of us would be peeking out in front of the crowd because that Cena pop is different.”
“Another thing, when I first came on the main roster, it was Cena and Dolph [Ziggler] wrestling every single night. I remember one of my first main roster shows, we were doing MSG, they had a cage match, and to be there in New York during Cena’s prime, wrestling Dolph, who is red-hot as well in the main event, to have the best seat in the house, I’m standing there and I’m getting to see greatness.”
“I’m getting to see how he manipulates the crowd. He made so many special moments for our fans, for people, for talent, for us to see what it’s like to be the guy, to have that kind of reaction. So salute to everything that everything that Cena has done for our industry and even all the Make-a-Wishes as well. It’s really inspiring. He’s done a lot. A lot is an understatement, but he’s done so much for our industry and our business, so salute to him.”
It’s not known when John Cean will have his next WWE match because he’s currently filming the second season of his Max show Peacemaker. However, fans know Cena is coming back for the retirement tour in 2025, which isn’t too far away.