John Cena returned to Monday Night Raw this week to celebrate 20 years of being a WWE Superstar. The 16-time world champion popped up numerous times backstage throughout the night, speaking with current stars like The Street Profits, Ezekiel and Austin Theory. Given their interactions on social media in recent months, many expected a program between Cena and Theory to be set up during the show, but that didn’t happen. Instead, Cena’s promo had him thanking the fans for their years of support.ย
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He addressed his future in the company, noting that he’s now 45 years old and doesn’t know when he’ll be back in a ring again. Cena did however note that whenever he does come back, it won’t be for just one match. Last year’s “Summer of Cena” saw the Peacemaker star wrestle at 15 live events and challenge Roman Reigns at that year’s SummerSlam pay-per-view in Las Vegas.ย
Cena talked about his thoughts on hanging up his boots in an interview with Chris Hardwick last year. His upcoming acting roles include the second season of Peacemaker and the films Snafu, Argylle, The Independent, and Wile E. Coyote.
“Returning to WWE, it’s a brand new world. A new cast of characters, new direction with the company, new platforms, new environment. There is a challenge there,” Cena said. “To challenge myself as a 44-year-old to go back, there is an Intrinsic challenge there, a set of circumstances. That’s a good challenge in many ways. My body could tell me after this extended stay, ‘dude, you’re done’ or it could tell me, ‘You’re so far from done it’s crazy.’ That’s another interesting conversation with myself. If physically, I’m slower, I’ve said openly to everyone that I will keep doing this until I feel I’m offending the customer. I will continually go out there and do what I can to contribute and add.
“I don’t want to go out there and be like, ‘Okay, just let him go out there and (do his thing).’ I’m not into that because I know what it’s like to pay for a ticket,” he added. “If I were to get that on this go-round, it’s a humbling and tough thing that I will have to hurdle. If I get the opposite and it’s like, ‘You’re quicker and can do some things better and define a new personality,’ then that’s a new conversation because I do not have much time left and if I want to give it like, ‘let’s really commit to this thing and really go all in,’ that’s an honest choice where other stuff will have to take a backseat.”
