‘Thank God for John Cena!’ WWE icons reveal how retiring legend saved wrestling

WWE is just hours away from the end of an era as John Cena finally retires after 23 years in wrestling.

The 17-time world champion is facing GUNTHER tonight at Saturday Night’s Main Event in his last ever match, with fans preparing to say goodbye to one of the greats.

Over the last few years, Metro has spoken to everyone from current colleagues like Chelsea Green and greatest rivals like CM Punk to referees and commentators about Cena’s career and legacy.

Veteran referee Mike Chioda put it best, when he told us: ‘Thank god for John Cena!’

After the Attitude Era, and the departure of huge names like Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Rock, WWE needed a new figurehead to carry the business forward.

Commentator Wade Barrett said Cena changed the perception of wrestling in the mainstream.

‘It was [seen as] entertainment for low IQ people,’ he told us. ‘Look at it today, and it is night and day.’

Cena came through a now-iconic class of talent in OVW alongside the likes of Batista, Brock Lesnar and Randy Orton, before debuting on SmackDown in 2002 against Kurt Angle.

‘Everybody that worked with John Cena knew he was the guy.’

It took time, and nearly getting fired, to find his feet as the Doctor of Thuganomics, which kickstarted the Ruthless Aggression era with Cena at the helm.

According to NXT commentator and retired wrestler Booker T, his potential was clear from ‘day one’.

‘Everybody that worked with John Cena, we knew [he] was the guy,’ he said. ‘We knew he was the guy that was gonna be the face of the company.’

He added: ‘Everybody rode the same direction at the same time to make sure we got John Cena there safe.

There were some rocky moments along the way, and not everyone felt the benefit of Cena’s dominance over the main event scene.

Among them was Barrett, who was a leader of upstart group The Nexus, a bunch of rookies trying to blaze their own path, when their paths first crossed.

In a moment of wrestling folklore, Team Cena beat the group at SummerSlam 2010, which derailed their momentum.

‘Obviously, there was a huge disparity between where he was at career-wise and where I was at,’ Barrett recalled. ‘I never felt like we were level as peers, when it came to putting the matches together or working on storylines or anything like that.’

While he felt ‘much more comfortable’ working with talent like Kofi Kingston at the time, Barrett was still ‘very grateful’ to be in there with the top dog.

‘To see him make a blueprint to where he is now – my hat’s off to him.’

Others, like Welsh wrestler turned Cirque du Soleil performer Mason Ryan, saw a warm side to Cena from the get-go, after working with him on his first night on Raw in 2004.

He got invited onto Cena’s bus after the show, and things took a turn.

‘He started bringing out some drinks. I’m thinking, “Okay, we’re going to have a beer or two,”‘ Ryan laughed. ‘After an hour, he starts bringing out the whiskey. And then he starts bringing out the moonshine.’

He said: ‘That was one of the craziest things about that [debut], getting hammered on John Cena’s bus that night.’

‘Very few people have the ability to generate that level of passion from a live crowd.’

Former TNA Wrestling star and viral sensation Joe Hendry has always looked up to Cena, who made an impression on him at just 15 years old when he couldn’t go to a SmackDown event in the UK.

‘My phone rang. It was my friend but I picked up the phone and I heard, “It’s your boy, John Cena,”‘ he reflected. ‘That taught me something about how to treat your fan base.’

Fan favourite R-Truth, who is five years Cena’s senior but jokingly refers to him as a childhood hero, insisted the Peacemaker star has always tried to help.

‘He had no problem helping talent out,’ he smiled. ‘To see him propel into where he started, and make a blueprint to where he is now, on a farewell tour on his own terms – my hat’s off to him.’

Cena is getting the plaudits right now for his work and longevity, with the likes of CM Punk heaping praise on their experiences with the GOAT.

‘Me and John are wrestling soulmates,’ Punk told us as he reflected on his now-legendary match with Cena on Raw in 2013, which came at a time when the Second City Saint was ill and beyond frustrated with his position in the company.

‘I had a fever that day, and I was just angry,’ he said. ‘That’s probably the best match in my career. There was just an energy, and there was a buzz in the building.’

It’s taken a long time for fans to truly appreciate Cena as one of the all-time legends of the game.

In 2006, it was a different picture when an intense ECW crowd at One Night Stand flashed middle fingers at the champ, threw back his t-shirt from the front row, and hung an infamous banner reading: ‘If Cena wins, we riot!’

He stayed strong in the face adversity, and ECW pioneer Paul Heyman told us: ‘John Cena feeds off of the interaction with a live audience like very few people on the face of the planet in history ever have, ever could, ever would, or ever have the ability to generate that level of passion from a live crowd.’

‘I think John Cena, to this day, loved every single micro moment of it,’ he smiled, adding: ‘[And] anybody that says that they wouldn’t cherish the opportunity to work with John Cena on any level is a fool.’

The way he handled the abuse has helped other stars, with former world champion Liv Morgan taking inspiration from Cena when fans turned on her a couple of years ago.

‘The way he carried himself helped me through a lot of personal stuff in my life.’

‘He’s the best of the best, who’s considered the ultimate babyface, and went through years and years and years of “Let’s go Cena, Cena sucks,”‘ she told us amidst her own backlash. ‘If that’s how I’m treated, I will be ok with that!’

While some stars have learned from his past, others like Austin Theory were taught very different lessons, when Cena tore him down on the microphone and pointed out audience apathy towards his character.

‘His character, the way he carried himself helped me through a lot of personal stuff in my life,’ Theory admitted about his connection to the star.

Reflecting on the promo itself, he recalled how it ‘lit a fire under you’, and served as motivation.

‘He’s a genius in wrestling, a genius in storytelling.’

This year, Cena has given a tour de force, including epic matches and feuds with the likes of Cody Rhodes, Dominik Mysterio and more – as well as one infamous heel turn at Elimination Chamber in March.

Wade Barrett recently told us he wasn’t a fan, but former Intercontinental Champion Santino Marella recalled the visceral reaction in the arena that night, which he experienced firsthand.

‘Everyone talks about how loud the audience was, and I’m like, “Let me watch this back,”‘ he said. ‘I almost started crying. I was like, “Oh my God”. What a moment.’

Current WWE superstar Chelsea Green perfectly summed up the moment itself, and Cena’s legacy as a whole.

‘We have waited and waited and waited for it, and like, I couldn’t have asked for a better 10 second moment of just facial expressions,’ she beamed.

‘He’s a genius in wrestling, a genius in acting, a genius in theatre, a genius in storytelling. There’s no one that does it like John Cena.’

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