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John Bradshaw Layfield once refused to take John Cena’s Attitude Adjustment (AA) finisher due to concerns he might suffer a bad injury.
JBL retired from in-ring competition in 2009 after 17 years in the wrestling business and 14 years in WWE. Towards the end of his career, the legendary superstar was asked to receive an AA from Cena at the same time as his on-screen ally Orlando Jordan.
Speaking on Stories with Brisco and Bradshaw, JBL said he reluctantly asked if they could work on a different move instead:
“I hated this because when I was wrestling Cena in ‘08 or ‘09, he wanted to put me and Orlando on his shoulders and do an AA to both of us. I had been hurt so many times… my back was bad, I thought I couldn’t take the move. I thought, ‘If I take that move, I won’t be able to get up.’ I told John, ‘I’m sorry, I’ll do anything else but I can’t do it.’” [20:38-20:59]
JBL feuded with John Cena in various storylines between 2005 and 2009. Their most notable match came at WrestleMania 21 when Cena defeated his long-term rival to win his first WWE Championship.
JBL knew he had to retire after refusing John Cena’s move
John Cena’s AA is one of the most well-known finishers in WWE. JBL received the move dozens of times throughout his career before injuries eventually caught up with him.
The former WWE Champion added that he had to retire after realizing he could not perform at the same level as before:
“That’s when I knew that it was time to get out the ring, because I don’t think I’d ever turned down anything.” JBL continued, “That really bothered me because I didn’t want it to look like I didn’t want to do something. I just knew I’d get hurt. That’s when I knew I was too old. Time to retire and do a podcast!” [20:59-21:19]
JBL is considered by many to be one of the greatest heels of all time. He joined the WWE Hall of Fame in 2021 as part of the 2020 class of inductees.
Please credit Stories with Brisco and Bradshaw and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.
