The other night, John Cena, WWE legend, wrestled in his final match and retired to great applause from both is fans and his peers.
I cannot pretend to have been there every step of the way with Mr. Thuganommics the same way many other people my age can, so this doesn’t hit me as hard as it probably should considering my overall fondness for wrestling. Still, it does hit me, though. John Cena’s been in my line of sight for most of my existence. From playing Smackdown vs Raw as a kid to casually seeing highlights of him to watching compilations on YouTube, this guy’s been putting on a show damn near as long as I’ve been on the earth. There’s something surreal to seeing that come to close. It really makes me stop and think about wrestling.
My relationship with wrestling is almost an inverse to my relationship with Basketball. Basketball is something I loved as a child, and still do a bit now, but I’ve mostly leaned away from it, partly due to gaining other hobbies and partly due to the NBA becoming not worth watching for a period of a time(It’s still fuck KD idc). Wrestling, on the other hand, is almost in the other direction; I didn’t watch it a lot as a kid, but I played Smackdown vs Raw like you wouldn’t believe, and as I’ve gotten older, I’ve steadily watched more and more, either through proper matches or highlights, and I’ve also just straight up seen it in more media I’m interested in. Damn near every fighting game has a wrestling character, anime/tokusatsu will often bust out wrestling moves, etc. So even if it’d be wrong to call myself a WWE fan, I’m definitely a wrestling fan.
And that gets me talking about why I even like this stuff in the first place. And what it really comes down to is that wrestling is kinda just IRL anime, not unlike how a lot of Tokusatsu shows play out. If fighting games allow us live out rivalries and tournaments like our fictional heroes, then wrestling allows us a front row seat to amazing storylines like in those same anime/manga. These men and women get in that ring and capture us with their charisma, putting on theatrics and pulling off stunts. They’re heroes and villains, plain and simple. And it’s one of the coolest things ever when it all comes together. John Cena, Rhea Ripley, Rey Mysterio, Jade, The Rock, Kofi, Booker T, these are all somebody’s hero, their favorite character that they’ve followed for years.
And that brings me back to Cena.
I’ve said goodbye to some of my favorite characters over the years. Not ashamed to say I’m always sad when their stories end. But I’m always happy I was there to see them, too. I’m always impressed that another human being put pen to paper, action to wind, and made me feel this way. So I have nothing but respect and appreciation for John Cena, playing the role he did for well over 20 years. Being a hero to children and an inspiration to adults, being a rival, being a standup guy(Have you seen all those make-a-wish kids???), he did it all. That character he was cast as, he played the role to perfection and made us all feel things. I wasn’t there for every step of the way, but I was there, and I was reminded that this stuff can be great. And who better to remind me than probably the best to ever do it?
Thank you, John Cena. It was a pleasure watching.