John Cena Allegedly Calling His Own Shots During WWE Retirement Run

John Cena’s retirement run may not be going the way fans expected, but that might be exactly how he wants it.

According to Vince Russo, the 16-time World Champion is allegedly booking his own matches and controlling his creative direction during his farewell tour. Speaking on Writing with Russo, the former WWE writer claimed that a current member of the roster told him Cena has been given full control over how his final run plays out.

“I was told by someone currently on the roster that John Cena is calling all his own shots in this run. I was told that Cena definitely has final say.”

Russo added that WWE originally had plans for Cena to work with The Rock, but something caused The Great One to step back from the angle—leaving WWE directionless with Cena’s booking.

“At one point, The Rock and Cena were on the same page — no question about it. Rock committed to that. But then something happened. When that happened and The Rock pulled out of the equation, they suddenly had no idea what to do with John Cena.”

Since then, Cena has allegedly shifted focus to picking opponents he personally respects or has history with. Russo said that’s why fans saw him face Brock Lesnar at WrestlePalooza, and now AJ Styles at Crown Jewel.

“What’s Cena doing now? He’s trying to book himself against the best opponents he can. Brock Lesnar’s a good opponent — there’s history there. He’s probably also a huge supporter of AJ Styles. Everybody who knows AJ loves AJ. So why wouldn’t Cena give AJ a shot?”

John Cena was squashed by Brock Lesnar in a short match at WrestlePalooza, and now he’s scheduled to face AJ Styles at Crown Jewel. His final WWE match will reportedly go down on December 13 in Washington, D.C., at Saturday Night’s Main Event—but there’s no word yet on who that opponent will be.

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