WWE News: John Cena reveals the original plan for him at WrestleMania 34
What's the story?
John Cena faced The Undertaker at WWE WrestleMania 34 back in April after weeks of attempting to call out The Deadman. Cena was seen in the audience throughout the show, waiting for Undertaker to show up, but this wasn't the original plan for Cena.
In case you didn't know...
John Cena's match against The Undertaker at WrestleMania was seen as a fantasy match that WWE had wanted to stage for a number of years. It was thought that The Deadman had retired from the company following his loss to Roman Reigns at WrestleMania the year before, but somehow the company managed to convince him to return for one more match.
John Cena has become a part-time superstar himself in recent months, and the last time Cena has been seen was at The Greatest Royal Rumble back in April. It's thought that his next appearance will be as part of the Australian Super Show-Down in October.
The heart of the matter
Cena's match against The Undertaker at WrestleMania lasted for around three minutes after the former 16-time World Champion had a confrontation with Elias. Cena had technically been part of the show from the beginning after he was seen in the audience with his own ticket waiting for news that The Undertaker had appeared.
Despite this going quite smoothly, this wasn't the original plan for Cena at the biggest event of the year. According to a report from SportsWiki, Cena revealed in a recent interview that the creative team originally only wanted him to be in the audience for a few minutes.
“There were reservations about me in the audience. Originally, they wanted me to go out in the crowd for 10 minutes. I said, ‘Absolutely not. I need a ticket, a physical ticket, I need a real seat, and I am going out in that arena when the doors open. It was rewarding to make an unbelievable moment believable.”
Cena's match was the shortest on the card this year, but despite that, he looks back on his appearance as a big part of the overall show.
“Every single week, the crowd would chant at the top of its lungs, and no one thought I would be sitting in the crowd at WrestleMania, but I was able to do that. I was able to go out and be handily defeated in three minutes and bring back an icon.”
What's next?
John Cena will face Kevin Owens in Australia on October 6, a match that was announced back in August, this will be Cena's first on WWE TV since April.
Do you think Cena was right to be an audience member at WrestleMania? Have your say in the comments.