John Cena has explained why he smiled just before bringing his WWE career to an end in his last match against Gunther.
The 17-time World Champion brought his WWE career to an end at Saturday Night’s Main Event on December 13 when he tapped out to Gunther in the main event, much to the dismay of fans in attendance and around the world.
As Cena was locked in the sleeper hold in the closing moments, the Hollywood star was seen smiling a few seconds before weakly submitting to the Raw star. Since then, fans have debated and theorised the reason why Cena was seen smiling before deciding to give up in what was a rare submission loss. A few days on from the last match, Cena has given his explanation.
“It Was Time To Take My Last Breath”: John Cena On Why He Smiled Before Tapping Out
In what was his first interview since retiring, Cena spoke with Cody Rhodes on the What Do You Want To Talk About? podcast. When asked about the smile, Cena stated that he was looking for an emotional goodbye to the fans, and how much that day meant to him:
“I envision something beautiful. Saturday far exceeded whatever was in my heart and soul. I know I’m out there one last time. I’m out there, and they hate the guy I’m working with. They universally cheer me. That is f*cking rare. For the last five minutes, everything I preach about story, drama, and having a conversation with the audience…the ones I love are in the front row, I know my colleagues are watching on the monitor in the back. We’re just in a sleeper hold, but we’re having that conversation with the audience. As I essentially take my last breath and have struggled. You think of somebody, the natural causes scenario or however we picture loss in our life, all of us have been through it. They struggle and struggle, but they hang on just long enough to make sure to say goodbye to everyone that is meaningful in their lives. That whole day was so many meaningful and vulnerable conversations. Then, you realize, I’ve connected with everybody I love. Physically, I feel great. I think it’s time to take that last breath. I hate to keep going back to obituaries, but that was, ‘This person died peacefully,’”
Cena has gone on record to say that he will be the exception to the rule, and will not wrestle again now that his retirement tour has come to an end.
As previously noted, a lot of fans were unhappy with the result of the match, heavily booing the finish and Triple H shortly afterwards. Responding to the criticism, Gunther gave his thoughts on what took place that night.
H/t to Fightful for the use of transcription.
Featured image: WWE
