After plenty of speculation and significant press coverage, we now cannot see John Cena anymore in the WWE as the 48 year old Massachusetts native has now officially and permanently retired from the world of sports entertainment as he now focuses in on his growing acting career and his other endeavours.
With loyal fans awaiting The Champ’s final appearance, that day finally came as he closed out his 23 year career in last Saturday Night’s Main Event (Dec 13) and it is very fair to say that the outcome caused significant uproar as few had seen the way he ended his career coming, certainly not those fans who use the new jersey online sports betting available to them. The raucous event saw multiple generations of WWE fans hope that they watched on as the 17 time WWE Champion took his final W in the ring, but instead Cena lost to Gunther when he tapped out whilst pined in a sleeper hold.
It was an incredibly divisive end to such a successful and storied career and plenty in the crowd were happy to air their anger at the ‘greatest of all time’ giving up and tapping out as it was contrary to everything he had previously stood for. However, plenty of others saw the poetic ending and the way that they had decided to close out the incredible arc that he had been following as they noted the serene smile he was sporting as his hand hit the mat for the final time.
With the event causing plenty of discussion on all media platforms, Cena himself has now clarified the meaning behind his ending, and those who spotted the smile and had read it correctly will be pleased with their own deductive powers. Speaking with Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes on his ‘What Do You Wanna Talk About?’ podcast on Thursday Cena confirmed that it related to the ending of life and being content in what that life had stood for.
“As I essentially take my last breath, I have struggled. If you think of somebody, the natural cause of scenario or however we picture loss in our life, all of us have been through it. They struggle, they struggle, they struggle. They hang on just long enough to make sure to say goodbye to everybody that’s been meaningful in their lives,” Cena explained.
Ahead of the swansong clash Cena has sort of rolled the pitch by reiterating that he would definitively not be wrestling again and that the entire and day and match was an opportunity for him to have a conversation with the audience, and that when he felt he had connected with the fans that it would be time to end completely.
“I think it’s time to take that last breath, and that’s that. I hate to keep going back morbidly to obituaries, but like, this person died peacefully.” Rhodes questioned “he faced death with a smile.”
The response was and emphatic “yes.”
Cena added the ending was to let people know the business was in a good place and that the next generation would be ‘great going forward’ and on the theme of the farewell tour being a final goodbye, that was epitomised by him taking to social media the day after the match and posting a picture of Obi-Wan Kenobi from Star Wars: A New Hope.
Cena may never be back in the ring again, but you would be foolish to think he will not make an appearance of some kind in another capacity in the future.
Image Source: unsplash.com
