John Cena Sr. praises WWE for releasing Billie Kay and Peyton Royce
John Cena Sr. believes WWE made the right decision to release Billie Kay and Peyton Royce.
The former IIconics members were among the 10 WWE Superstars who received their releases on April 15. Kay now goes by her real name, Jessica McKay, while Royce will be known as Cassie Lee.
John Cena’s father gave his take on the latest WWE releases in an interview with Boston Wrestling MWF’s Dan Mirade. Although he disagreed with Samoa Joe’s exit, he did not have an issue with WWE releasing the Australian duo.
“So, now I sit back and say to you: that makes sense,” he said. “It’s all I can say. That makes sense. If I was the guy in charge [Vince McMahon], I’d be looking at who’s putting a**es in seats, who’s performing, who isn’t, and I’d say, ‘You know what, good luck in your future endeavors.’ That’s the way to do it, brother.”
John Cena Sr. also questioned why WWE did not release Elias. He views his son’s former in-ring rival as a “poor imitation of The Honky Tonk Man.”
John Cena Sr. says Billie Kay and Peyton Royce’s repackaging didn’t work
Billie Kay offered several WWE SmackDown Superstars her services as an assistant following The IIconics' split in 2020. Meanwhile, Peyton Royce formed a brief alliance with Lacey Evans on RAW before it was announced that Evans was pregnant.
John Cena Sr. says WWE has the ability to keep its stars fresh and relevant by giving them new personas. However, in Billie Kay and Peyton Royce’s case, he thinks it is best for everyone if they move on and work somewhere else.
“I think you can always find a way to repackage a product and put it back on its shelf,” he added. “I think the case was it just didn’t work, and the fact is, 'I’m not gonna work with it anymore, let’s move on, we’ll find somebody else.' Unfortunate but I think the one thing they can do is look back and say, like I do, 'I had my day in the sun.'”
The highlight of Billie Kay and Peyton Royce’s WWE careers came when they won the WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship at WrestleMania 35. Another career highlight came at WWE Super Show-Down 2018 when they defeated Asuka and Naomi in front of their families in Melbourne, Australia.
Please credit Boston Wrestling MWF and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.