Tag: crown jewel perth

John Cena apologized for ‘going into business for himself’ at WWE Crown Jewel

Posted on by Joseph Currier

John Cena created a special moment at WWE Crown Jewel: Perth — but it was something he felt the need to apologize for afterwards.

Before his match against AJ Styles at the October PLE, Cena handed ring announcer Alicia Taylor an introduction that he personally wrote for Styles. It paid tribute to Styles’ past, referencing his career in TNA and being part of the Bullet Club in NJPW. According to Cena, the introduction was a surprise to everyone.

“Dude, I just wanted to do something nice for my guy,” Cena said on Insight with Chris Van Vliet. “I didn’t even show Alicia until I handed her the paper.”

Cena was trying to create something special with the introduction, but he regrets not informing people about it in advance. Even if he kept it secret from Styles and Taylor, Cena feels like he should have been a team player by telling those in WWE creative. He apologized to a few people in creative for surprising them with what he did.

“I went about it the wrong way. I went into business for myself. I should have gotten permission to do that. And I would have gotten permission to do that, but I told no one about it because I wanted to do something special,” Cena said. “And in doing so, the people running the show felt surprised. And that’s not a position I ever want to put them in because they award me such creative liberty.

“Wonderful moment, but like, we’re all trying to make these moments special and we’re all on the same team. And it shouldn’t be me doing something outside of that realm. If I tell my teammates, ‘Hey, let’s do it.’ I can keep it from AJ, I can keep it from Alicia, but if I tell my teammates who are crafting this show, maybe they make it look better. And the first thing I did was thank AJ. The second thing I did was pull a few creative individuals aside and say, ‘I’m sorry, that will never happen again. I know where I f*cked up. I’m so sorry. And I went into business for myself. That’s not me. I hope you look at my body of work and all the times I’ve asked for permission. And this is the one time I asked for forgiveness.’ It got the best of me, but I wanted to do something nice for AJ.”

Crown Jewel: Perth was the last-ever match in the Cena vs. Styles rivalry. Cena is retiring from the ring this weekend at WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event. Styles’ retirement is not quite as imminent, but he plans to end his in-ring career at some point in 2026.

John Cena Sr. praises son’s WWE Crown Jewel match against AJ Styles

Posted on by Joseph Currier

John Cena Sr. was a huge fan of the match his son had against AJ Styles at Crown Jewel: Perth.

While speaking with Sportskeeda WrestleBinge, Cena Sr. heaped praise on the October 11 bout, calling it something that all up-and-coming wrestlers should watch. He did not think much of the build WWE had for Cena vs. Styles, but that did not have any affect on the match quality.

“It wasn’t much,” Cena Sr. said about the build. “It was a very poor buildup to what I consider to be a phenomenal match. Forget about [it being] John Cena Jr. That was an outstanding match. And any of the young people coming up ought to take a good look at that match, because that’s the way it ought to be in pro wrestling. That was phenomenal.”

The build to Cena vs. Styles was done on social media with Cena calling for WWE to give the fans what they want. Cena’s WWE schedule did not have any appearances between Wrestlepalooza and Crown Jewel, which is why the build happened that way.

Cena Sr. told Sportskeeda WrestleBinge that his son and Styles showed a high level of ring psychology in how they performed. Renewing the Cena-Styles rivalry one last time, the match went nearly 30 minutes with Cena getting the victory.

“The one that they learned, and that young people need to learn in this business, is ring psychology,” Cena Sr. said. “They read their crowd and they performed to what the crowd wanted. You notice, they didn’t stop — they listened. And when they did, they just went ‘bang, bang, bang.’ They worked so well together. So well together. And I think that’s so important in this business.”

After the bell rang, Cena Sr. sent his son a text telling him how much he loved it. The younger Cena replied that he was breathing hard following the match but had a lot of fun.

“I said, ‘John, it was phenomenal.’ He said, ‘I’m glad you enjoyed it, dad. It was a lot of fun.'”

Both Cena and Styles are nearing the end of their in-ring careers. Cena’s last match will take place at WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event on December 13 against a yet-to-be-announced opponent, with Gunther believed to be the most likely option. Styles will have his last match at some point in 2026 but has not set an exact date.

Cena Sr. said it’s sad that the industry is losing two great competitors, but he believes both are making the right choice by making room for younger talent to take the spotlight and stepping away before their bodies break down.