Mark Henry Sends a Message to John Cena After WWE SmackDown

John Cena cut a heartfelt promo on the August 8 episode of WWE SmackDown about his recent attitude change. Reacting to the show, Hall of Famer Mark Henry addressed a comment that his former rival made about his legacy.

Cena became a record-breaking 17-time World Champion when he defeated Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania 41 in April. Outside of the ring, the 48-year-old has achieved success in films and television. He has also granted more wishes than any celebrity in the history of the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Cena explained on SmackDown that he was worried fans would forget about him once he retired. However, on Busted Open After Dark, Henry made it clear that the veteran wrestler's iconic WWE status would remain intact forever:

"First off, John [Cena], I'm talking to you. Nobody's gonna forget you. You have more titles won than any wrestler in WWE history. You've made so many wishes for so many people. Over 8,000, can't even remember how many. You've set a standard of what it is to be a babyface in pro wrestling. You transcended wrestling. You're now in Hollywood doing the damn thing." [2:01 – 2:44]

Henry famously attacked Cena in 2013 after pretending to retire on RAW. The storyline led to a match at Money in the Bank 2013, where Cena secured the win to retain the WWE Championship.

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Mark Henry on John Cena's decision to retire

In December, John Cena will retire from WWE in-ring competition after 25 years in the industry. While the legendary superstar is likely to remain associated with the company in some capacity, he has vowed never to wrestle again.

Mark Henry added that WWE would probably like to keep Cena around, but his former opponent ultimately decided to step away:

"I just got off a movie set today. I could have called in and canceled, but I love this. Just like you do, John, and I know you love it, and you're not going anywhere. They may ask you to take less money now, but the WWE, they don't want John Cena to go away. You're going away because you wanna go away, not because you're being ran off." [3:24 – 3:59]

It was confirmed on the latest SmackDown episode that Cena will face Logan Paul in a first-time-ever singles match at Clash in Paris on August 31.

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Please credit Busted Open After Dark and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.