John Cena Explains The Emotional Reason He Smiled Before Tapping Out To Gunther

Speaking on Rhodes’ What Do You Wanna Talk About? podcast, Cena explained that his tapping out was his moment of taking one “last breath” and going out peacefully.

“For the last five minutes, everything I preach about story and drama and having a conversation with the audience. The ones I love are in the front row. I know my colleagues are watching on the monitor back there. We’re just in a Sleeperhold, man, but we’re having that conversation with the audience. As I essentially take my last breath, I have struggled. If you think of somebody, the natural causes scenario or however we picture loss in our life, all of us have been through it. They struggle. They hang on just long enough to make sure to say goodbye to everybody that’s been meaningful in their lives, and that whole day was so many unbelievably vulnerable, meaningful conversations. Then you realize, I’ve connected with everybody I love. Physically, I feel great. I think it’s time to take that last breath, and that’s that. I hate to keep going back morbidly to obituaries, but like, ‘This person died peacefully.’ Knowing that like, ‘Man, we are in a good place. We’re going to be great going forward.’ The bottom of the t-shirt says ‘I gave everything, thank you for everything. And in that one moment, that was that. Going peacefully.'”

This was Cena’s first interview since his wrestling retirement. Even in the interview, Cena said that he is completely done with wrestling and will never wrestle again.