John Cena Drops Bombshell on Why WWE Scrapped His 17th World Title Win in 2021 at the Last Moment

John Cena would've become a 17-time world champion in WWE in the summer of 2021 itself had it not been for a last-minute change in plans.

John Cena Drops Bombshell on Why WWE Scrapped His 17th World Title Win in 2021 at the Last Moment

John Cena [via- WWE]

John Cena has dropped a bombshell regarding the originally planned creative for him to win his seventeenth world title in WWE. ‘The Cenation Leader’ revealed to O’Shea Jackson Jr. and TJ Jefferson on the No-Contest Wrestling podcast that he was supposed to dethrone Roman Reigns at SummerSlam 2021. But he was also going to drop it back to Reigns moments after his watershed moment.

Their match was planned to be restarted by whatever nefarious means necessary, and it would’ve seen ‘The Tribal Chief’ regain the then-Universal Championship from the WWE legend. This was the plot before Brock Lesnar was factored into the night. Cena said WWE couldn’t secure him for the show until 5 in the evening. But once that happened, the entire finish to Reigns vs. Cena was altered.

After Cena was made cognizant of it, he went over to Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman to discuss the revamped ending of their match. ‘The Franchise Player’ told Reigns and Heyman that he wanted ‘The OTC’ to defeat him with a single spear now that he was going to retain the title.

There was going to be a spamming of finishing maneuvers from both the wrestlers when they initially hashed out the flow of the match with John Cena as the penciled-in winner.

However, when it was decided that ‘The Head of the Table’ was going over at SummerSlam, Cena thought some minor tweaks in the design of the match would do wonders for Reigns’ character arc moving forward, as he was eventually lined up for a feud with Lesnar. Heyman was there in the room with Cena and Reigns while they were going on about how the match should end now.

The Peacemaker actor revealed his admiration for one of the greatest minds in pro wrestling history by saying he always preferred the stories over individual acts. And just as their visions aligned with one another, a pivot was made.

Cena then stressed that these sorts of last-minute changes always happen in this business, and one needs to stay ready for their time being cut or them having to cope with an entirely different creative when there’s a need for it.

‘Mr. Hustle, Loyalty, and Respect’ briefly mentioned the fallout of his heel turn going nowhere with Travis Scott and The Rock deciding to go their separate ways, or take, for instance, when Steve Austin walked out on WWE in 2002 with the company having to move on and adjust itself accordingly.

John Cena reveals how he’s feeling post-WWE retirement

It’s been over two months since John Cena retired from WWE. The fans still haven’t completely made peace with the fact that the 17-time world champion will never wrestle again. Addressing those sentiments, Cena said in the aforementioned conversation on the No-Contest Wrestling podcast that he doesn’t want to take away anything from anyone in terms of where their heads are at.

John Cena
John Cena [via- WWE]

But on a personal level, he’s feeling great, said Cena. The 48-year-old stated that he’s feeling loved and has fulfillment in life because his body is intact, even though it still has taken an immense toll, affecting his posture, which often comes to the limelight when Cena is spotted walking with a bent back in public settings.

The Massachusetts-born icon mentioned how it was high time to close his WWE chapter and noted it ended on a bang. John Cena did admit that there were mixed reactions to the way he bowed out from wrestling. But retirement is treating him well thus far.

‘The Babe Ruth of WWE’ registered a poetic tap-out loss to Gunther on December 13 at Saturday Night’s Main Event in the nation’s capital. In some staggering figures from that show, WWE made $6,553,883 off ticket sales. It happens to be the largest arena gate in the company’s history.

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