John Cena Says He Was Supposed To Face Drew McIntyre, Not AJ Styles, At WWE Crown Jewel 2025
John Cena has often spoken about the many pivots there were during his retirement tour in 2025. At WWE Crown Jewel, Cena faced Styles in one final match, capping off their legendary feud that defined the latter part of Cena’s career.
Speaking to O’Shea Jackson Jr & TJ Henderson on No-Contest Wrestling, Cena revealed that the original plan called for him to face Drew McIntyre at the event.
“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. We pivoted. You want to have a feel good moment because they were listening to the data points. They do. It’s real. You have the Brock moment, people are pissed off. You have the AJ moment, and things are great. You have this three appearance run with Dom, which is fun. Then, the Ring General,” said Cena.
Cena retired in December 2025, losing to Gunther in his last match.
Elsewhere during the interview, Cena also revealed the original plan for SummerSlam 2021. You can find his comments here.
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