John Cena Explains Why He Doesn’t Want Active WWE Stars To Trash Talk Him In Promos

John Cena says that he doesn’t want current WWE roster members to direct promos against him, as it will never pay off for them. Cena has been retired from the ring since his loss to Gunther almost a year ago at Saturday Night’s Main Event on December 13th, 2025.

Cena has made a few appearances since on WWE TV to announce and now promote the John Cena Classic. He told The Takedown on Sports Illustrated that he advices talent to focus on targets where there will be a storyline purpose, as opposed to himself where they won’t get a blowoff moment.

“The only thing that matters is I control what I do,” Cena said. “And if it’s one of those things where a talent is like, ‘Hey, man, maybe I can come out and talk some trash about you.’ Okay, where’s the payoff? Where are we building? You’re wasting your air, you’re wasting space.”

He continued, “If you call me out, that’s great. You have a few good zingers about me. Good for you, but you’re building something, and you’re influencing the consumer to something that you’ll never get. We’re never gonna deliver on this. So, use me as a conduit to call somebody else out.”

Cena is appearing on tonight’s WWE Smackdown to invite more people to the John Cena Classic.