Cody Rhodes reacts to John Cena’s final match: ‘You don’t want it to end’

Cody Rhodes praised John Cena’s career and legacy in an emotional post-show interview following Cena’s final match at WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event.

Immediately after Cena walked out to a roaring crowd after his final match, WWE switched footage to its post-show video on YouTube, which featured an emotional Cody Rhodes standing ringside and soaking in the moment. As Jackie Redmond approached Rhodes, he reflected on Cena’s career and reacted to the retirement tonight.

Teary-eyed and controlling his emotions, Rhodes opened up on what Cena’s career and legacy meant to him.

“It’s really hard to describe, in the sense of all the positives he brought to our industry and leaving it better than we found it,” Rhodes continued. “Wrestling is, there’s a way it ends. He did everything right by the book, and it’s still like, when it’s that good, you don’t want it to end. I know that’s vague, but he did everything by the book and taught so many people. He set such a high standard, such a high bar.”

“I’m not trying to get emotional on his night, but more than anything, take a moment and think about those sneakers, and the pump-ups before that, and the man that filled those, and what he was able to do through good and bad times.”

Rhodes further stated, “Tonight, everyone was just chanting ‘Let’s Go Cena’ — not a ‘Cena s**ks’ chant in the house. It’s everything. I’m so happy that it happened. It’s a great, great arena with wrestling history, and I’m so glad it happened there.”

Cody Rhodes reflects on John Cena’s role as a mentor to him

In the same ringside interview with Redmond, Rhodes opened up about Cena’s role to him as a mentor in the industry.

“John [Cena] led with his mind. He’s a businessman, and he was trained by businessmen, and he trained us to be businessmen. So to go out here where you’ve got 19,000 people and not a soul leaves until he leaves — that’s a sign he had a great career, and we can only hope to have something like that. Hats off to the greatest of all time.”

Also in the interview, Rhodes revealed how he had immediately accepted Triple H’s invitation to be part of the event. In the opening match of the night, Rhodes faced off against NXT Champion Oba Femi, which ended in a no-contest after Drew McIntyre interrupted.