With a few more hours left for his retirement tour to officially begin, John Cena has found a new enemy.
On 1st February, John Cena is set to compete in the men’s Royal Rumble for a shot at his 17th World title win. However, just a few hours before the bout, former NXT Champion and rising SmackDown star, Carmelo Hayes had some heavy words for Cena.
Speaking to Sportskeeda’s Emily Mae, Melo opened up on sharing a roster with Cena, and if he was hopeful about a future face-off against The Leader of Cenation. Calling the veteran an enemy, Hayes said,
“Absolutely. John Cena like I said when I was a kid, superhero You know what I mean, to all of us, and it would be a dream come true. But now we’re on the same level as far as we both work for the WWE. We’re both on the main roster and now he’s an enemy, now he’s a threat, now he’s the opposition. So all that fandom goes completely out the window. John Cena, actually I can see you and I will see you either tomorrow or one day in the future.”
H/t Fightful
Hayes faced Jimmy Uso on the 31st January edition of SmackDown in a losing effort but is optimistic about his Rumble run. By the end of 2025, Cena will be completely done with his in-ring WWE career and will have served over two decades in the promotion since his debut against Kurt Angle in 2002.
A Former WWE Champion Wants To Retire John Cena
In an interview with the No Holds Barred podcast with Jan Murphy and Rob Wong, Drew McIntyre opened up on his desire to face John Cena, and possibly retire him before the end of this year.
“It’s not would, either. I think it’s should, 100%. When CM Punk first came back, peoples’ instant reactions were ‘I’d like to see this or this and my name wasn’t mentioned. I was like ‘Hey, there are plenty of stories here,’ with my personal feelings and the environment we live in and if I get the chance, I’m going to make this frigging count.
With John, I’ve got 10 times the stories. There are very few people who were around him, especially those growing up around him, left. Cody and I are the only two who are under 40 from that previous generation that grew up around John and have a lot of things to say, a lot of them are chummy, chummy. I may have some more interesting things to say. I do have some more interesting things to say and when, not if, I get the opportunity, on the microphone, much like Punk.”
In other news: A McMahon has confirmed his WWE Royal Rumble 2025 appearance.