WWE history: John Cena gets emotional while talking retirement after Roman Reigns match

The backstory

WWE No Mercy 2017 - two of the biggest Superstars of this generation clashed in one of the co-main events of the night. John Cena and Roman Reigns faced off in what was clearly a match for the ages, a dream encounter if you will. The buildup to the bout saw Cena and Reigns throw shade at each other on numerous occasions.

Roman Reigns defeated Cena in a hard-fought battle, following which he got Cena's approval and this resulted in a true "passing of the torch" moment. The aftermath of the match saw Cena discussing retirement with Jerry Lawler and Renee Young, on a WWE exclusive named Raw Talk.

Raw Talk

Cena clearly stated that although he eats, breathes, and sleeps WWE, he's at a point where he doesn't know how long he can keep up. This turned out to be foreshadowing Cena's immediate future in WWE, as he only made sporadic appearances from that point on.

During the interview, Cena was almost on the verge of tears while talking about his match with Roman Reigns and the transition he is going through. It further cements the fact that Cena loves WWE more than anything and there was a part of him that was incredibly sad about making this transition.

It was a... it was a very emotional night. I haven't done a lot of these and haven't been in a lot of situations, and being in the same building where I jumped into the crowd after I won my first championship, it's cool, it's... [almost breaks down], no it's cool man, it's all right. It's just that transition is tough, but it's wonderful, it's beautiful.

Cena almost cries on his final night as a full-time performer 😢#johncena #wwe pic.twitter.com/a704KSx9nr

— WrestLove (@tmykwoah) August 13, 2019

The aftermath

Cena went on to participate in a Survivor Series Elimination match, and was squashed by The Undertaker at WrestleMania 34. He was recently seen on the Raw Reunion episode, in a segment with The Usos.