John Cena Says WWE Rejected His Pitch to Use the Heart Punch as Final Finisher for Farewell Tour

John Cena had big plans for his farewell run—but one idea didn’t make the cut.

In a new interview with Chris Van Vliet on INSIGHT, Cena revealed that he pitched bringing back one of wrestling’s most infamous and controversial finishers: the heart punch. At 48 years old and in the final year of his in-ring career, Cena said he was looking for a way to adapt to his changing physical limits while still offering something fresh.

“I’ve leaned on what strength I have left. I’ve leaned on the wisdom I have and some of the tricks I’ve learned,” Cena explained. “Knowing a confident why for all the matches… and especially being told like, hey from this point on, we need you to give her a little bit. We need you to get into it more.”

But when he suggested using the heart punch, WWE shot the idea down fast.

“That whole heart punch idea you had, it’s probably not going to work,” Cena recalled being told by the creative team.

Instead of pushing back, Cena rolled with it. “Okay, let’s go. You know, I think I can ride this out.”

The heart punch has a long and dark history in pro wrestling. The move, a single strike aimed at the chest, was kayfabe said to stop the heart and knock opponents out cold. In real life, it became infamous in the 1970s when it was linked—rightly or wrongly—to two tragic in-ring deaths.

Ox Baker was the most notorious user of the move. In 1971, wrestler Alberto Torres died shortly after a match in which Baker used the heart punch. Though the real cause of death was a ruptured appendix, promoters blamed the punch to build Baker’s terrifying gimmick. A year later, Ray Gunkel died after a match with Baker, suffering a heart attack. Again, the heart punch was used in storyline to fuel Baker’s “killer” persona—an image so strong it once sparked a riot in Cleveland.

Stan “The Man” Stasiak, a former WWWF Champion, also used the move, helping solidify it as a deadly finisher during the territory era.

This isn’t the first time Cena has flirted with strike-based finishers. In 2018, he introduced the “Lightning Fist” during his run in China filming a movie with Jackie Chan. That move—a flashy backfist developed with the Jackie Chan Stunt Team—was more comedic and theatrical, fitting Cena’s lighter character tone at the time.

The heart punch, by contrast, carries a far more serious tone and a weight of history behind it—something WWE apparently wasn’t willing to gamble on, even in the hands of the company’s most decorated star.

Should WWE have let John Cena bring the heart punch back for his final run—or was it too risky to revive such a controversial move? Let us know in the comments.