John Cena is “The Greatest of All-Time,” and this weekend, he squares off in the ring for one of his final appearances on the year-long “The Last Time Is Now” WWE farewell tour, as he battles AJ Styles at WWE Crown Jewel: Perth on Saturday, October 11, 2025.
Before he heads ‘Down Under’ to Australia with WWE for the final time, the future WWE Hall of Fame legend made an appearance at the annual Chicago Fan Expo for a live Q&A with fans in attendance.
During the Chicago Fan Expo Q&A, John Cena spoke about such topics as why performing in “The Windy City” has meant ‘everything’ to him over the years, his rivalry with CM Punk, why they clicked so well together and how he wishes Punk had never left WWE, as well as which legend he would face in a WrestleMania main event if he could go back in time and pick anyone.
Featured below are some of the highlights from the John Cena Q&A at the 2025 Chicago Fan Expo, as well as a complete video archive of the appearance.
On why performing in Chicago has meant ‘everything’ to him over the years: “That’s an easy one. I can answer that immediately and say everything because it’s where the journey begins. I tell people you can’t have a finish without a first step, and man, my first step was in Allstate in an incredible moment. And since then, it’s been one hell of a ride. So Allstate to me means everything. It’s going to be wonderful to go back there. I’m looking forward to it.”
On his rivalry with Chicago’s favorite son, CM Punk, and why they clicked so well together: “A few things. First of all, we both want the same spot. And I also think we both love the same thing. A lot of people that want that front spot, purely want it for selfish reasons. Every once in a while, you get somebody who wants to sit in the front that loves the business, and we love it in different ways, too. I think we’re such different personalities, but we share a lot of the same core values. So we just want to bring the best out of each other. For some reason, we kind of found each other and found each other at the right time and man, I wish I could have kept him with us. I wish he didn’t have to take all that time off because we could have had some more matches, but I’m grateful for the moments we’ve had. And I think that, I think we just, we both want to sit in front. We both really love the business.”
On if he could go back in time and face anyone in a WrestleMania main event who would it be: “Just selfishly, Andre, because he was like the measuring stick. The folklore behind Andre the Giant is mythical, and both physical as his presence, but also in the folklore of the fraternity of the Brotherhood of Wrestling, especially the WWF territory. I’m sure it’s across the world, because Andre was a global phenomenon, but… Selfishly, yes. That’d be the one, Andre the Giant.”
(H/T to Corey Brennan and Fightful.com for transcribing the above quotes.)
