Why did John Cena leave WWE?
John Cena returned to WWE at this weekend's Money in the Bank pay-per-view after a hiatus of over a year.
Cena is a part-time performer in WWE as he has transitioned to becoming a top star in Hollywood. The 16-time world champion has acted in movies like Bumblebee, Trainwreck, and more recently, F9: The Fast Saga.
Cena left WWE to concentrate on establishing himself as a major Hollywood star, and the money involved in these mega Hollywood projects doesn't allow him to take the chance of wrestling and risking injury.
In an interview from a few years ago, John Cena apologized to The Rock for barbs he had taken at The Great One for leaving WWE for Hollywood. Cena explained how an injury in WWE could cause a delay in Hollywood projects.
"I called out Dwayne, I called him out because of ignorance. I called him out as someone that had tunnel vision in WWE and didn’t understand the process that when you make a movie, you are not allowed to do anything else because if you ruin this – if Seth Rollins splits my nose open over here – I can’t film the movie and there’s hundreds of other people whose financial well being depend on whether I show up to work in one piece. If I stop production, that could shut production down. That costs the movie money," said John Cena.
The WWE legend is busy with multiple Hollywood projects, apart from hosting the Wipeout show and other projects in film and television.
Cena has wrestled just thrice since 2019, with his last match coming at WrestleMania 36 against Bray Wyatt.
John Cena is reassured to see that WWE has a "life" after him and is proud of leaving WWE in a better place than when he joined the company. The former WWE Champion stated a few years ago that he will never retire from WWE.
John Cena returns at WWE Money in the Bank 2021
John Cena made a return to WWE at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view, where he returned following the match between Roman Reigns and Edge.
The match between Reigns and Edge was for the Universal Championship and was the main event of the pay-per-view. The Tribal Chief defeated the WWE Hall of Famer and retained the title.
Following the win, John Cena made a surprise return and confronted Reigns, potentially setting up a match between the two for next month's SummerSlam pay-per-view. Cena told fans at the arena that this was not a "one night only" thing, and will be at the RAW after Money in the Bank.