SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
John Cena says that plans changed and he wasn’t originally supposed to face A.J. Styles at the Crown Jewel PLE in October 2025 at the tail end of his retirement tour.
“A.J. (Styles) was supposed to be Drew (McIntyre), but it pivoted,” Cena said during an appearance on the No Contest Wrestling podcast. “We wanted to give them a feel-good moment because they were listening to the data points. They listen to you guys, they do. It’s real.”
Cena said during the interview there were times that fans were happy with how his retirement tour, which featured a lengthy heel turned, was going, but he admitted there were times he knew when they weren’t happy with how he was being presented. “You have the Brock moment, people are pissed off,” said Cena. “Then you have the A.J. moment, thisngs are great. Then you have the three appearance run with Dom, which is fun.“
Cena finished off his retirement tour tapping out to Gunther at Saturday Night’s Main Event in December 2025. Gunther has turned his wins over Bill Goldberg and John Cena in their respective last matches into a career killer gimmick. Gunther most recently retired A.J. Styles by beating him at the Royal Rumble PPV in January.
Cena said he made the decision to smile and tap out to Gunther at the end of his retirement match. “It was a brave choice to say be like, we’re killing the character off,” said Cena. “What’s the craziest way we can do it?”
WWE CCO Paul “Triple H” Levesque took the brunt of the frustration from fans for the finish after he came out after the match. The fans in attendance booed loudly and chanted “you f—–ed up” at him. Cena admitting he made the decision to smile and tap out to Gunther is a reversal from his previous comments that he made during interviews in 2025 during his retirement tour that he shows up and does what he is told.
Levesque took the blame for the finish during the SNME post-show. “John has said the right thing his entire career, that is about leaving this place better than you found it,” said Levesque. “There’s no way for people to understand that in the moment, but you do what is right for the business. You do what is right for this industry. John has done that his entire career and I’m going to do that my entire career. I will do what I believe is right for this business, which it is what it is. I understand that’s tough for people to understand.”
PWTorch sourcing indicated at the time indicated that Cena had full authority over the finish of his match against Gunther and was not against it.
You can watch Cena’s apperance on the No Contest Wrestling podcast below:
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