John Cena Embraces Triple H Backstage as He Announces His WWE Retirement at MITB 2024
Regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, John Cena has a record of being recognized as a 16-time world champion by the WWE. Cena signed with WWE in 2001 and, since 2018, has been performing part-time. After he won his first WWE Championship in 2005, John Cena transitioned into a clean-cut heroic character, which he describes as goody-two-shoes Superman. Over the years, John Cena not only impressed the audience with his wrestling but also became the face of the brand from the mid-2000s to the late 2010s.
Compared to other wrestlers in the company, Cena has received criticism for his perceived overrepresentation and on-screen dominance. However, he has been one of the fan favorites for years, and no one can deny that. Apart from wrestling, just like Dwayne Johnson, a.k.a., The Rock, Cena ventured into acting and has been a part of movies including 12 Rounds, Trainwreck, Bumblebee, Playing with Fire, Fast & Furious 9, The Suicide Squad, and more. John Cena recently made a huge announcement, making his fans emotional.
Triple H calls John Cena ‘The Greatest of All Times‘ as the latter announces his retirement from WWE
16-time WWE champion John Cena appeared at Money in the Bank 2024 on Saturday at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, where he confirmed that he’ll be retiring after his final match at WrestleMania 41. Cena carried a towel that read his catchphrase, ‘The Last Time is Now’, and his t-shirt read, John Cena Farewell Tour.
According to wrestling, this could point out that this is not an imminent goodbye but a slow progression that would include maybe a couple more lasts. WrestleMania 41 is set to take place on April 19 and 20 in Las Vegas at the Allegiant Stadium. He said during the announcement (via Marca),
Tonight I officially announced my retirement from the WWE. This farewell does not end tonight. RAW will make history next year when it moves to Netflix. That is the history that is first, and I will be there. 2025 Royal Rumble will be my last, and I am here to announce that in Las Vegas, WrestleMania 2025 will be the last WrestleMania I will compete in.
After Cena announced his retirement, WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H was spotted embracing the wrestler backstage in a hug. He later took to his social media to describe the wrestler as ‘The Greatest of All Time’. Matt Cardona also took to his social media to write, ‘I want Cena’ in addition to The Coach, who wrote that John Cena is announcing his retirement in the next nine months.
The Greatest of All Time. @JohnCena #MITB pic.twitter.com/2IXxYx3Y8Z
— Triple H (@TripleH) July 7, 2024
He added that he has loved the wrestler for a very long time as they have traveled together, adding that Cena is a gentleman who works very hard and no one wants to be great more than him. The Coach noted that he cannot stop but go down the memory lane at the moment with a man he got to learn up close and personal about how to chase greatness all over the planet.
Wade Barrett praises Triple H’s efforts to change the environment of WWE
In a conversation with The Ring Report, SmackDown commentator Wade Barrett was asked about the changes that he has witnessed with Triple H being in charge, to which he said,
Well, I’ve noticed that I’ll compare my time as a commentator to my time in the ring. And I think there are a lot more surprises these days. And we’ll call it the Triple H era, the Paul Levesque era, whatever it’s now. I think there’s something we’re good at, and it reminds me of being a fan back in the late ‘90s in the Attitude Era; you cannot miss a show at the moment.
Barret continued that, according to him as a fan, it feels like one cannot miss the show because something big will happen every week. He added that there was a time when he was the in-ring guy during the kind of early 2010s when the show felt a little formulaic at times. He noted that the shows felt a little obvious, but now one cannot miss a minute of the show. He further said,
And the Bloodline stuff on SmackDown. It feels like every week there is something massive going on. And that’s exciting to me as a commentator. It keeps me guessing. It keeps me motivated and excited.
Wade Barrett lastly added that he thinks that the change has had people hooked in as it keeps them guessing and being hyper-creative with the scriptwriters and the ones working behind the scenes. Concluding by praising Triple H’s management, who, according to him, are now taking everything in a really good direction.
