Yes.

I actually feel like that's, okay, so there's a, there's a very loaded question.

I could talk about this for, like, 10, 15 minutes, but, uh, where to start? Uh, okay, so the, t- t- the struggle, okay? So, uh, and you're talking about, like, maybe perhaps, and, you know, not to sound like we're getting to be old-timers and cynical about the change of direction in the business and all that, I tend to agree with you to an extent.

And I just think what it is is- Sometimes when you get so close to something, you start to not see the forest for the trees, okay? Like, you start getting called up in the, caught up in the moves and caught up in the spots and trying to, like, build, um, I don't know, excitement or whatever.

And excitement is part, part of the game.

It's just one tool, okay, in the toolbox.

But really, the game is making people feel things.

Pac.

Not on a global scale.

Not on a g- Well, as I was talking about earlier about this, uh, obligation I felt towards seeing the world and taking advantage of these opportunities, I also realized, man, I'm getting paid to travel the world.

And around 2010 especially, I was always trying to find new countries to wrestle in.

But I think it coincided with, uh, I had a girlfriend, it was the only girlfriend I ever had, and then, uh, I bro- we broke up.

And so I loaded my schedule up.

I was like, well, there's nothing...

We already know what the negatives of this situation is, you know, heartbreak and all that.

Confident in your ability to speak but sell tickets.

[laughs]

Um, but yeah.

So and as far as, like, when I thought this would happen, I, I have said this in other interviews, um, yeah, I guess the Bloodline would probably be the turning point.

But, um, as far as like, "Oh, this is really close now," you know? It's, uh, it's like within striking distance.

And, um, I, I think my story on television really has been the, the, the character's kind of obsession with, uh, with winning this thing over the last few years.

And that really only came to be once I started getting within striking distance.

Because at a certain point, like, you know, you do your thing and you're just happy doing your thing.

Right.

Mm.

'Cause after that one, you know, that's when I was already starting to feel, I felt like maybe I had missed my window, and I couldn't give up faith, but it was the first time my faith was shook.

It was, if I'm being totally honest, I, I knew I had the talent.

I knew I had everything.

I, I knew I was just as, as good as any of these guys, Drew, Roman, Cody, Seth.

And the proof is you've seen me mix it up in the ring with all of them.

You've seen my body of work.

But when you won the title, what moments were you thinking about?

Mm.

'Cause after that one, you know, that's when I was already starting to feel...

I felt like maybe I had missed my window, and I couldn't give up faith, but it was the first time my faith was shook.

It was, if I'm being totally honest.

I, I knew I had the talent.

I knew I had everything.

I, I knew I was just as, as good as any of these guys, Drew, Roman, Cody, Seth, and the proof is you've seen me mix it up in the ring with all of them.

But when you won the title, what moments were you thinking about?

Mm.

'Cause after that one, you know, that's when I was already starting to feel, I felt like maybe I had missed my window.

And I couldn't give up faith, but it was the first time my faith was shook.

It was, if I'm being totally honest.

I, I knew I had the talent.

I knew I had everything.

I, I knew I was just as, as good as any of these guys, Drew, Roman, Cody, Seth.

But when you won the title, what moments were you thinking about?

What are those really emotional moments where you're like, that I need to have that again as a performer as a storyteller in your career where you think those and it's not so much the greatest match but that entrance that that moment you got to have in Montreal the moment you got to have last year with Kevin Owens in Los Angeles special moments like you got to have in Dallas at Wrestlemania what are those specific moments when you kind of look at the end of your career like I gotta have moments like that again

Look, I've been really lucky to have a lot of those types of moments that really I felt and the fans, I felt like the fans felt them too at the same time.

And it's just, man, it's the most beautiful thing in the whole world.

I really love that.

And like I said, you rattled off a couple of those moments just now.

But, um, I think when you perform with your whole heart and you perform and you, and they, the fans that is, and they sense that it's real and that you're the emotions real.

Like, you know, we can talk all day about pro wrestling and what is and what isn't real or whatever, but the emotion is real.

And,

Nick Suzuki.

Uh, I don't know.

What's one word to describe him? Complete.

Mike Matheson.

Matheson.Um, stability

Yeah.

I, I, I don't necess- And for me, a lot of that stuff I don't buy into.

To me, the most accurate barometer always is the live crowd.

Because if you just go off what the internet was saying, you would think that, you know, uh, CM Punk is the worst wrestler we have.

Jey Uso is, was, uh, widely hated.

Rhea Ripley, Becky Lynch, my, like myself, Cody.

But then I show, and I read some of this stuff online, and then I go to the building and the, the, the, these are the people getting the biggest pops on the show.

Yeah.

They, they just don't get tired, so, um-

[upbeat music] Real value shows up in reliability you don't have to second guess, like a set of Firestone all-season tires.

They're designed to deliver confidence inspiring wet weather traction and a quieter ride, no matter the road, season after season.

Firestone all-season tires, for durability you can count on, just like people count on you.

Firestone, always dependable, since 1900.

And it's very hard to imitate.

Shout out to Cena, man, for real.

He's always been a real one from the day one.

Is the atmosphere at the Royal Rumble in Saudi Arabia gonna be the difference-maker this time?

[lips smack] You know, I'm not a big destiny guy or, you know, it's meant to be.

Or I try to stay away from cliches like that.

But the timing of this has been exceptional.

You know, once, once the stuff with The Bloodline happened and I kinda really stepped into my own, [body slaps] [crowd cheering] and main eventing WrestleMania, now you know, it's within arm's reach.

So for the last three years almost, it's this journey [body slaps] to do this one thing that I haven't done, which is win that WWE championship.

And then there's this other story of Drew McIntyre kinda being my white whale, kinda being my kryptonite, my Achilles heel.

How would that compare to all of the other many championship wins you've had throughout your career?

I, I know

You know what I mean? Like, you forget sometimes, like we get bogged down in this.

We talked about this.

Sometimes you get bogged down in the day-to-day or the, you know, where you are and what you're doing with yourself and all that, and sometimes you don't always get a chance to really hear what you meant to the fans, especially someone like John Cena, who's been at the forefront of all this stuff for two decades.

Like, what he meant to these people, and you know, they're gonna tell you tonight.

They don't, right

... is they don't get, yeah, they don't get those live events.

They don't get to sit on the bus with Cena on those European tours or, uh, you know, have him sitting at the front of that monitor and pick his brain about...