WWE legend John Cena has bluntly opened up about his controversial character twists during this year’s farewell tour.
The 48-year-old wrestler and Hollywood star is in the midst of his ongoing retirement run before calling it quits in December 2025, and it’s been a wild ride on and off-screen.
Fans were reeling in March when Cena finally turned heel (wrestling slang for becoming a bad guy) in one of the most shocking twists in the history of the business.
However, viewers soon became critical of the run, with aspects like the involvement of Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson and rapper Travis Scott largely abandoned.
On the August 1 edition of SmackDown, on the eve of SummerSlam, Cena flipped back to his superhero-esque ways and embraced the fans, with his heel turn resigned to the history books.
Now, the Peacemaker star has hinted it was doomed to fail from the very beginning.
He cut his first heel promo in Brussels on the road to WrestleMania, but fan reaction on the night was mixed, with some people cheering while others gave Cena the boos he desired.
During an appearance at Fan Expo Chicago over the weekend, he was asked if the mixed reaction bothered him.
‘I wasn’t upset. No, I failed,’ he claimed. ‘Ain’t nothing wrong with that. You can learn from failure, right? I went up there and bombed. S**t happens.’
What is John Cena’s net worth?
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Cena’s is $80million, combining his WWE earnings, acting career and other projects
He hinted that fans will have to wait until January, once the dust has settled on his retirement, before he really opens up about the nuts and bolts of the final run.
Up next, Cena – who lost his 17th world championship to Cody Rhodes at SummerSlam – will be facing Logan Paul in France during the Clash In Paris premium live event on August 31.
‘I think he’s underrated, I think he gets a bad rap. He’s not an outsider,’ he added at the Chicago fan event. ‘I think his best days are ahead of him, I think he’s got championships in his future.’
Meanwhile, Cena suggested he’s more than ready to deliver in Paris after treating fans to the best match of his retirement run earlier this month.
‘I’m training hard, Cody Rhodes brought out the best in me at SummerSlam, he reignited a fire in me,’ he admitted.
John Cena’s skin cancer warning
Cena has been open about his past skin cancer diagnosis, after neglecting sunscreen from childhood, which continued into his 20s as he moved to Florida.
‘I didn’t want to have a routine and I also thought the problem would never reach me,’ he told PEOPLE earlier this year.
‘It wasn’t until I went to a dermatologist and got a skin checkup and had a cancerous spot removed from my right pec.
‘I was very lucky to have a great dermatologist who kind of, I guess for lack of a better term, held me by the hand and let me know that I wasn’t alone.’
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