John Cena made it a point to try and help younger talent, both on screen and behind-the-scenes, during his WWE retirement run in 2025. Following his final match, Cena sat down with Cody Rhodes on “What Do You Want to Talk About?” where they discussed Cena’s final year and how he tried to remain flexible, in order to teach others to do the same.
“I always try to be coachable and I could be in the school of thought of like, ‘You need 200 live events a year,'” Cena explained. “No we don’t, because that’s not where we’re at…The message I really tried to hammer home to new talent was, ‘I am on my way out. This would be the easy way to do it. 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.'”
Cena said he wanted to influence others to make the most of the events, both live and televised, that they have and to not be afraid to fail on camera. Cena said he and Rhodes took a big swing at WrestleMania 41, and it was criticized, but he didn’t want to do the easy thing.
“I wanted to paint a different picture and then just listen to what the audience says and we go from there,” he said. “But, your trust and faith in me knowing that like, ‘Oh my god, every wrestler uses WrestleMania as the end of their book,’ and me being like, ‘Dude. It’s like the beginning.'”
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit “What Do You Want to Talk About?” and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
