October 21st 2023.
John Cena appeared visibly emotional on SmackDown this week as he discussed his WWE retirement plans. The 16-time world champion has found success in Hollywood in recent years, but he had a startling statistic about his in-ring appearances.
He said to a packed crowd in San Antonio on Friday night: “Last week I talked about Roman Reigns’ streak. 1,138 days as champion. Today, I found out I have a streak of my own. 2,002 days – that’s a long time, right? It's been exactly 2,002 days since I last won a televised singles match. I want you to think about that for a second. 2,002 days. My last win was in 2018.”
Cena seemed choked up as he fought back tears. He said that fans might need to “face facts” after some disappointing results in recent years. “I’ve been talking a whole lot about retiring,” he said. “I just think its time that we all face facts. Come on, guys! Fact is it’s been a long time since I had a win.”
The fans willed Cena not to retire, chanting “you still got it” to show their support. He seemed fired up, shouting “I believe in me, I believe in you, I believe in us! I believe that I can still go. I believe that I can still bring it, and the time is now to turn things round.”
Cena’s challenge was quickly answered by Solo Sikoa, as The Bloodline’s enforcer hit the ring, sparking a brawl with Cena before Jimmy Uso came out to get a numbers advantage over the former world champion. Jey Uso then hopped the barrier to even the odds, prompting a fantastic response from the crowd.
It seems Cena is on a collision course with Solo, potentially as soon as Crown Jewel next month, as he looks to turn his bad fortunes around. WWE SmackDown airs Friday nights at 1am on TNT Sports 1.
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