John Cena apologized for ‘going into business for himself’ at WWE Crown Jewel
John Cena created a special moment at WWE Crown Jewel: Perth — but it was something he felt the need to apologize for afterwards.
Before his match against AJ Styles at the October PLE, Cena handed ring announcer Alicia Taylor an introduction that he personally wrote for Styles. It paid tribute to Styles’ past, referencing his career in TNA and being part of the Bullet Club in NJPW. According to Cena, the introduction was a surprise to everyone.
“Dude, I just wanted to do something nice for my guy,” Cena said on Insight with Chris Van Vliet. “I didn’t even show Alicia until I handed her the paper.”
Cena was trying to create something special with the introduction, but he regrets not informing people about it in advance. Even if he kept it secret from Styles and Taylor, Cena feels like he should have been a team player by telling those in WWE creative. He apologized to a few people in creative for surprising them with what he did.
“I went about it the wrong way. I went into business for myself. I should have gotten permission to do that. And I would have gotten permission to do that, but I told no one about it because I wanted to do something special,” Cena said. “And in doing so, the people running the show felt surprised. And that’s not a position I ever want to put them in because they award me such creative liberty.
“Wonderful moment, but like, we’re all trying to make these moments special and we’re all on the same team. And it shouldn’t be me doing something outside of that realm. If I tell my teammates, ‘Hey, let’s do it.’ I can keep it from AJ, I can keep it from Alicia, but if I tell my teammates who are crafting this show, maybe they make it look better. And the first thing I did was thank AJ. The second thing I did was pull a few creative individuals aside and say, ‘I’m sorry, that will never happen again. I know where I f*cked up. I’m so sorry. And I went into business for myself. That’s not me. I hope you look at my body of work and all the times I’ve asked for permission. And this is the one time I asked for forgiveness.’ It got the best of me, but I wanted to do something nice for AJ.”
Crown Jewel: Perth was the last-ever match in the Cena vs. Styles rivalry. Cena is retiring from the ring this weekend at WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event. Styles’ retirement is not quite as imminent, but he plans to end his in-ring career at some point in 2026.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.