John Cena has ‘no-fall-downs’ policy in WWE retirement
John Cena loves that he still gets to be part of WWE after retiring from the ring, but fans shouldn’t plan on ever seeing him take another wrestling bump again.
Cena has always maintained that his retirement would be legitimate and that no amount of money could lure him back for another match. That policy apparently extends to any kind of physicality, with Cena telling The Takedown on SI that there will be “no fall downs” from him in his new role.
“It’s great. Honestly, it’s great,” Cena responded when asked how retirement has been. “Physically, I feel great. Gosh, I love watching the product. You saw me, I was having a bunch of fun at WrestleMania. Really looking forward to the future and my future role in WWE. Very excited about the John Cena Classic.
“This was the confusing thing about retirement. First of all, I will stay retired — no fall downs. I will not do anything physical. But that doesn’t mean I’m away from WWE. I mean, anyone who knows me knows how passionate I am about not only the sports entertainment business but WWE as a brand. So it was simply a matter of like, ‘So where do I fit in now?’ And we’re still trying to find out those pieces, but I think we got a clear path.”
Now under WWE contract as an ambassador, Cena hosted both nights of WrestleMania 42, appeared at Backlash, and is part of the launch of the Club WWE fan membership program. He told The Takedown on SI that Nick Khan and Paul “Triple H” Levesque have been “very open-minded” as he figures out his post-retirement role. They have listened to Cena’s ideas and will tell him when something is good, bad, or needs tweaking.
Cena said — after a 4-5 month period of him coming up with the idea and Khan & Levesque digesting the information– they have been working out the details for the John Cena Classic for a couple of months now. It was announced during Cena’s appearance at Backlash, though there is not a date or location locked in yet. The show is an All-Star Game-type event that will pit main roster stars against talent from NXT. It has a fan-voting component where people will be able to vote for the John Cena Classic Champion at the end of the show. Losing their match does not disqualify a wrestler from being voted the champion.
At WrestleMania and Backlash, Cena wore a suit rather than his wrestling gear, which is another policy he has in retirement. He’s vowed to never wear his gear in the ring again.
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.