John Cena often went to incredible lengths to protect his stardom and babyface character in the WWE. While several fans know that he finished matches even after sustaining terrible injuries in the course, Cena has also been accused of altering storylines backstage to make himself the center of attention.
In 2010, the WWE heel faction Nexus, led by the current commentator Wade Barrett, attacked Cena multiple times. The ‘Cenation’ star formed Team WWE to counter their attacks. The feud between these two factions culminated at Summerslam 2010.
According to David Otunga, a former Nexus member, their faction was scheduled to win the encounter. However, he found “an hour or two before showtime” that the authorities had changed the outcome entirely. Otunga blamed the change on Cena and described how it made Nexus “fall apart”. (via TMZ Sports on YouTube)
“We were supposed to win at SummerSlam all day until about an hour or two before showtime. The finish was changed, and we knew who changed it, and they told us who changed it. It was John Cena. We disagreed with it. And with the ending, we should have won, but Cena went over, and it completely cut the legs out from under us, and after that, Nexus kind of fell apart.”
Cena’s fans might feel a bit enraged at this point, but Otunga isn’t the only one who accused Cena of halting his momentum.
A WWE United States Champion Made a Similar Allegation Against John Cena
The current AEW star, Jake Hager, had a remarkable run in the WWE as Jack Swagger, where he also became the United States Champion. Nevertheless, Triple H and Co. wanted to make Swagger a bigger star by handing him the WWE Championship in 2010.
However, in one of his interviews, The All American-American disclosed how Cena tanked his rise in the WWE by refusing to lose to him, which restricted him from becoming the WWE Champion.
Swagger won the 10-man Money In The Bank match at WrestleMania XXVI, earning himself an opportunity to fight for the WWE title anytime within a year. In his interview, he mentioned that the authorities wanted him to cash in his Money in the Bank briefcase in a subsequent episode of Raw after WrestleMania XXVI.
Swagger also revealed that Triple H and Co. had planned a successful cash-in for him, where he would defeat Cena to become the new WWE Champion. However, the 43-year-old accused the Cenation star of refusing to follow the WWE brass’s blueprint of losing to him, which didn’t allow him to bag the promotion’s most prized title. (via Vick_8122 on X)
“Oh yeah! He [Cena] absolutely refused to do it [lose his title to Hager]. I was told that was what happened because the original plan was [that] I was going to beat him [on] Monday night on RAW and not do the tease.”
Despite Otunga and Swagger’s allegations, Cena continues to be arguably the biggest draw on the WWE roster. This is why several noted stars wanted a match against him amid his retirement tour.
The Miz Wanted To Face John Cena Amid His Retirement Tour
Cena’s 2025 matches with CM Punk, Randy Orton, and other former rivals took many fans down memory lane, making them recall their previous encounters from the late 2009s and early 2010s. The 17-time world champion had also been involved in a few engaging feuds with The Miz around the same time, which provided fans with exciting in-ring encounters.
Like Punk and Orton, The Miz also wanted a match with Cena amid his retirement tour to take their rivalry to the next level of popularity. However, looking at the number of appearances Cena has left, Miz feels frustrated that he still hasn’t been against the Cenation star despite being “the first person” to wish for the match. (via The Schmo on YouTube)
“It pis**s me off as a WWE Superstar because I feel like I have had a big rivalry with John Cena. I’ve had multiple WrestleManias with John Cena. And yet the fans aren’t sitting there saying, ‘Hey, we want The Miz vs John Cena.’ They’re saying, ‘We want AJ Styles vs John Cena… I’ve been vocal! I’ve been the first person to say out there that I wanna put my name in the hat to go against John Cena. I was the first person. When I heard about the whole farewell tour, I said, ‘I wanna be the first person to put my name in the hat.’”
The following are the matches in John Cena’s retirement tour so far:
So while some accuse Cena of halting their momentum, others can’t wait to get inside the ring with him. But does this make you think that Cena’s stardom came at the cost of the stars who are accusing him today? Let us know in the comments below.
