John Cena Feels ‘Truly Great’ Heading Into Farewell Match, Weighs In On Criticism Of Last Run

John Cena says that he feels very good heading into his final match this weekend, and he shares his thoughts on fan criticism of his retirement run. Cena’s final match takes place takes place this weekend at the Peacock special. Cena will face Gunther at the show after Gunther won the Last Time Is Now Tournament.

As part of his hefty media push for the event, Cena appeared on Insight With Chris Van Vliet for a new interview. He spoke about how he’s feeling and more. You can see highlights sent along by the show below:

On How He Feels Heading Into His Last Match:

“Great, truly great. We’ve been able to put programming that’s held the attention of folks out there for a year, been able to leverage individual intellectual property and create attention through things like the time is now tournament, stuff like that’s important, even when you can’t be there, you kind of help him get eyes on the product. Gosh, I’m super excited about the 13th because they bought what I sold them.

“I would love for it to be, rather than just a tribute show, I want it to be a look ahead. I’ll have my last in-ring performance. That is for certain. I’m not doing anything after that. But in doing so in the night too, we get big WWE Superstars so they can say they were on the card in non-canon exhibition matches against the best and brightest we got in NXT. So gosh, what a way to go out. Using those few hours that Peacock has given us and Netflix internationally to be able to say goodbye to a chapter in my life that’s very important, and in doing so, hopefully get eyes on what could be the next two-decade run, or maybe give somebody that boot in the butt that like, Yo, this is what the noise sounds like. I’m really, really happy, man. I feel great.”

On the Reception To His Retirement Run:

“To be at these shows is something special, and we’ve had great moments come out of these shows. I’m not saying I’m the sole driving force behind it, but a lot of people are showing up to be like, ‘Man, this is the last time I can see John.’ And then the show’s been great enough to be like, ‘Yeah, but I want to watch them fight too.’ So I’m very happy they bought it, and I think I would say everyone internally is happy, and I would say everyone externally has an opinion about it, which is good. Here we are in early December, looking forward to the 13th. I don’t think there is apathy out there. I know some people are critical of it. Some people may be upset, some people may be overjoyed, but there isn’t apathy, and I think that means we did okay.”

On Criticism Of His Final Run:

“It’s part of what we do. That is absolutely part of what we do. I love it because it’s vocal and it starts a conversation. That’s the thing. I’ve been part of this live criticism pit since WrestleMania Triple H or fighting Kurt Angle. That’s what people don’t understand, I am criticized all the time.”