Triple H doesn’t begrudge John Cena for retiring on his own terms.
The 16-time WWE Champion announced his intention to retire when he appeared at Money in the Bank 2024 last week. He made a surprise appearance at the event, indicating that his time is now up.
John Cena revealed that he was retiring soon. He said that 2025 Royal Rumble, Elimination Chamber and WrestleMania 41 would be his final appearances at those events as a wrestling, prompting people to question how long Triple H knew about this plan.
Triple H was asked about this timeline at the Money in the Bank post-show media scrum. He revealed that he knew for a while, and that now was the right time to let the cat out of the bag.
He added that John Cena has earned the right to call his own shots, in terms of his retirement.
The time is now
“John has been talking about, as you know, as media has been talking about, seeing the end coming.” Triple H said. “For athletes, you get there. This does not get any easier, especially to be gone, come back, and go out and basically put your body through a train wreck. It is tough. You get to a place where mentally you love it and think you can keep doing it. Physically your body is telling you that is enough. It came to be, if I did it, this would be the way I would like to do it. This conversation happened over time.”
“How would we work that out? John has earned the right ten times over to be able to do this the way he wants. I’m thrilled to sit next to him and help him figure out how he wants to do it, not only for him but for all of you. This will be extraordinary and we have been thinking about it for a while. As far as doing it at Money in the Bank, the timing was right. Secrets are hard to keep in this business. Once we got to a place, we are running the risk, let’s just get out there and talk about it.”