Former WWE referee recalls John Cena legitimately choking out opponent at the Royal Rumble

Sometimes John Cena doesn't know his own strength.

John Cena is so strong he accidentally choked Umaga out during their match at the 2007 Royal Rumble.

On this week's edition of Monday Mailbag with Mike Chioda on AdFreeShows.com, Chioda told a crazy story about the Last Man Standing match between Umaga and John Cena. The bout took place at the WWE Royal Rumble pay-per-view in 2007.

The match apparently saw Umaga legitimately go unconscious. Chioda revealed that he felt terrible about the whole situation as he didn't realize that Umaga was out and just thought at the time that he was very good at selling.

"Umaga couldn’t answer anything. He was out like a light. That’s why I got so worried about Eckie [Umaga]," Mike Chioda said. "I was thinking, was he concussed? But no, the rope got him and choked him out, and he passed out. I didn’t even know Eckie was passed out. He was shoot passed out. He was totally out of it. He finally woke up. I was like, ‘Are you alright? That was nuts.’ It was the ring rope that choked him out. John was pulling too hard. He was tugging too hard. I felt bad because as a referee, you have to know what’s going on in there. I was like, ‘Eckie, I just thought you were selling so good.’ He said, ‘I was trying to tell you but I couldn’t get it out.’ He couldn’t talk but he was trying to tell me it was too tight, and I couldn’t even hear him."

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A bloodied Cena left the 2007 Royal Rumble victorious. After a brutal back-and-forth match, Umaga was defeated when Cena used a broken ring rope to choke his opponent out.

John Cena is making waves outside of WWE

While no longer competing full-time inside a WWE ring, John Cena is breaking records in Hollywood. The 16-time WWE Champion has seen massive success as of late with his Peacemaker series on HBO Max.

Cena tweeted out the following news this weekend regarding the overwhelming success his series has achieved on the platform, which has been greenlit for a second season.

"Just learned from the good folks at @hbomax that the #PEACEMAKER finale had the biggest single day performance for a Max Original series and was up 44% over the premiere episode! That is a F#CKLOAD of *peace finger emoji sign* and does not happen without ALL OF YOU! Truly grateful. Ready for Season two!" John Cena tweeted.

Just learned from the good folks at @hbomax that the #PEACEMAKER finale had the biggest single day performance for a Max Original series and was up 44% over the premiere episode! That is a F#CKLOAD of ✌️ and does not happen without ALL OF YOU! Truly grateful. Ready for Season ✌️!

Are you surprised to learn that Cena accidentally choked Umaga out at Royal Rumble 2007? Have you seen his Peacemaker series on HBO Max yet? Let us know your thoughts by sounding off in the comments section below.

Thanks to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription of this podcast.