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John Cena Reveals AJ Styles Was Not His Originally Planned Opponent for Crown Jewel: Perth
Image Credit: WWE
John Cena had several memorable matches during his WWE Retirement Tour last year. But none was more special than his bout with The Phenomenal AJ Styles at Crown Jewel: Perth.
The match saw both performers write another beautiful letter to professional wrestling, as they never left the ring and gave heartfelt tributes to their former rivals by performing their finishing moves on one another.
However, as Cena revealed during his appearance on the No-Contest Wrestling Podcast, that match wasn’t the initial plan, and the 17-time World Champion was originally scheduled to face Drew McIntyre in Perth. Cena revealed that the company pivoted after fans’ hostile reaction toward his match against Brock Lesnar at Wrestlepalooza and their overwhelming response in favor of wanting another showdown between The Greatest of All Time and The Phenomenal One on social media.
On Why WWE Changed the Original Plan of Drew McIntyre to AJ Styles:
“I try to plan it as a year of creative experiences, but you have to be able to pivot. ‘You don’t have Rock, you don’t have Travis [Scott]. We’re going to do this and this.’ AJ was supposed to be Drew [McIntyre]. We pivoted. You want to have a feel-good moment because they were listening to the data points. They listen to you guys. They do. It’s real. You have the Brock moment; people are pi**ed off. You have the AJ moment, and things are great. You have this three-appearance run with Dom, which is fun. You know, hometown boy wins in his hometown, and then you go to San Diego; he gets his payback, but Liv comes back. We involve every f**ing person we possibly can. Like, fun match! Then, the Ring General.”
Elsewhere in the interview, John Cena explained why he chose to retire from pro wrestling in the month of December. You can check his comments HERE. Check out John Cena’s comments below [from 1:05:55 onward]:
Please credit the No-Contest Wrestling Podcast and give an H/T to 411Mania for the transcription if you take quotes from this article.
