TKO Accused of “Butchering” John Cena’s Retirement Tour

John Cena’s retirement run will end in just a couple of months and many fans have mixed feelings about it all. Unsurprisingly, WWE and TKO have been called out for butchering the retirement tour.

While speaking on Inside the Ring, Paul Walter Hauser criticized how TKO has handled John Cena’s farewell tour, saying it hasn’t delivered what fans were hoping for. He felt the tour should have honored Cena’s legacy by featuring a mix of old rivals and new stars who could benefit from facing him.

Hauser said that Cena’s farewell should have included opponents like The Miz, Chris Jericho, Sheamus, Triple H, and even Brock Lesnar, suggesting that a meaningful win over Brock would have been the perfect sendoff. He questioned the creative direction behind the tour, calling it “pointless” and wondering if there might be a bigger payoff planned for WrestleMania.

“I think it’s TKO. They’re butchering it. I think it would have been nice if John Cena’s farewell tour included a great mesh of prior opponents that have known him for 20 years and future stars who could use the rub. I would have loved to have seen Cena fight people like The Miz. I would have loved to see Cena fight Jericho, The Miz, Sheamus, Triple H, uh, Brock win and beat Brock. Um, why did they do that? It just feels so pointless. Why? What was the point? Seriously, guys, what was the point of that?

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Maybe there’s some sort of payoff we’re not privy to. Like, does John show up at WrestleMania next year and, like, they extend the tour? We got to extend the tour, man. No, he has a point though, because people have been—yeah. No, the money of his last match is Brock, and he’s like, I have to beat this guy.”

Hauser also mentioned that he wished Cena’s match against Lesnar looked different but admitted that when the kids started crying, he found those shots funny. Hauser added that Cena will face AJ Styles in Perth but made it clear the tour was still lacking.

“I respect that decision but I still wish that the match looked a little bit different. Yeah. Um, they brought him out with kids. He came out with kids, dude. The kids started crying. That was—those shots were funny, though. I think, I guess he’s fighting AJ Styles in Perth.”

This comes after Vince Russo claimed that John Cena has been calling all the shots for his retirement tour. Nonetheless, fans are now questioning whether WWE is truly honoring the legendary superstar’s final run. With only a few months remaining, many are hoping the company delivers a worthy send-off that properly celebrates the Leader of Cenation in a meaningful way.

Do you agree with Paul Walter Hauser that WWE and TKO have mishandled John Cena’s retirement tour? What matches or storylines do you think would have made it more memorable? Sound off in the comments.

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