At last month's Saturday Night's Main Event, John Cena faced Gunther in his final-ever WWE match. The Leader of the Cenation gave it his all, but when it became clear that he couldn't defeat The Ring General, Cena accepted his fate, smiled, and tapped out.
The idea was that the 17-time WWE Champion had accepted his fate and was ready to walk away from his decades-long professional wrestling career. Not everyone liked that, and many fans were furious that the man who had long preached "Never Give Up" had given up.
That was evident from those in the building who made their feelings known. When WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H headed to the ring for Cena's curtain call, he was met with boos, chants of "You F***ed Up!" and, in a post-show interview, even calls for "AEW."
Appearing at Fan Expo in New Orleans, Cena once again addressed his WWE retirement and made it clear that he still feels tapping out to Gunther was the right way to go.
"Losing my last match against Gunther... Thank you for reminding me that you’re allowed to have your opinion, and thank you for not just conforming to a certain set of standards," he said to a fan who expressed their disappointment. "Thank you for being vocal enough to express how you felt. I put together a story which I think y’all would enjoy."
"When there’s critical opinion out there, I’m all ears. Don’t ignore critics," Cena continued. "I’m thankful for them at DC and everywhere before that...I guess it kind of parallels my career."
"I think it was a perfect end, because a whole lot of people thought it sucked, a whole lot of people thought it was special, and that’s kind of been my story for 23 years. So I thought it was perfect," the Peacemaker star concluded.
Cena's year-long retirement tour was undeniably hit-or-miss, with plenty of unhappiness also surrounding his elimination at the Royal Rumble by Jey Uso and the fallout from an otherwise unforgettable heel turn.
There were many highlights, though, including his Intercontinental Championship win (making Cena a Grand Slam Champion, at last) and stellar matches with CM Punk, Randy Orton, and AJ Styles.
While Cena will now focus solely on his Hollywood career, the actor and former WWE Superstar (that feels strange to say) will remain under contract with WWE and is expected to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as soon as this year.