WWE News: John Cena Kept ‘Under The Cloak Of Night’ At ‘WrestleMania,’ Looking To Return Sooner Than Predicted
It’s debatable as to what was the biggest surprise back on Sunday, April 3 at WrestleMania 32. At no point during the build to the big event was John Cena, Shawn Michaels, Mick Foley, or “Stone Cold” Steve Austin advertised for the show, but wrestling fans were made well-aware that they’d all make an appearance in some form or fashion. The Rock, on the other hand, was heavily pushed on WWE programming as making an appearance in Dallas.
Out of all those aforementioned superstars, the one the WWE Universe wasn’t completely sure of having a role was John Cena. Cena was (and still is) in the midst of rehabbing his latest injury, trying to “defy science,” and return to the ring as soon as he was physically ready. The Rock came out to a thunderous reaction, announced the record-breaking crowd, was interrupted by The Wyatt Family, interacted with Bray, and then defeated Erick Rowan in six seconds. The numbers game then caught up to The Great One until John Cena’s music hit and Cena made his surprise return to aid The Rock and fend off Wyatt and his followers.
Cena was a recent guest on Larry King Now, where he addressed a myriad of topics, including his relationship with Nikki Bella, his Hollywood career, and, of course, wrestling. His return at AT&T Stadium was kept under such wraps that he was instructed to change into his wrestling gear in a broom closet of all places. WWE officials did not want anyone at all to see him so as not to leak the news before the moment.
“I wasn’t supposed to be there, so I was kinda kept under the cloak of night and I dressed literally in a side office that’s a broom closet, with a television so that I could see the program. And I knew that when The Rock went out to speak I wouldn’t be far behind. So that’s kind of when I made my way up to the launching pad and ran down and tried to save the day.”
Vince McMahon and WWE have done their best to keep surprises like Cena’s tight-lipped and under lock and key. Most recently, the shocking return of Shane McMahon was kept under similarly-secretive terms. Clearly from the interview, Larry King isn’t the most avid wrestling fan, nor did he seem to do much research on John Cena’s most recent developments within WWE. But, despite many recent reports suggesting Cena would be out of action until mid-to-late summer, King got some different news when he asked Cena “if he’d ever wrestle again.”
“Oh yeah, absolutely. I’m pushing to try to get back within a month if I can.”
I'm not going to lie I was happy to see John Cena back in the ring ?#WrestleMania https://t.co/uakmNsgAA9
— Sam (@Sam_Rigley) April 4, 2016
Cena has every intention of wrestling an actual WWE match by the end of April, which would make yet another miraculous recovery for the 15-time WWE Champion. It would seem unlikely at this point in the game that Cena would be on the card for the company’s next pay-per-view, Payback, which comes our way on May 1. The next event after that is just three short weeks later in the form of Extreme Rules on May 22 in Newark, New Jersey. If Cena is determined to be an active member of the roster by the end of this month, it’s conceivable he could be on that show, but a more high-profile event like June 19’s Money in the Bank may be more fitting.
John was pressed by Larry King as to why he would continue his wrestling career when his other endeavors have been successful and less harmful to his body. Cena calmly responded that there’s nothing like the satisfaction from live performance and that there’s nothing that can compare to that.
[Image via YouTube]
