John Cena's former tag team partner reacts to his retirement; they have known each other since 2002

John Cena has officially announced his retirement from in-ring action. Throughout his more than two-decade-long career, the 47-year-old has solidified his legacy and won numerous championships along the way.

The Cenation Leader is admired by fans and several individuals associated with the wrestling business. A few days ago, AEW President Tony Khan called him a modern-time great, even though, he has never met him in person. Recently, ex-WWE Superstar Matt Hardy spoke about the 16-time World Champion on The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy Podcast.

Hardy said that Cena's decision to hang his boots was the ideal choice because now, he will be able to focus more on Hollywood and acting. Furthermore, he stated that his final run in WWE is going to be intriguing because he will wrestle top superstars and help younger talent get over.

"I think John retiring is probably a good call for him because I think he wants to move forward and do more things on the Hollywood front and in the acting front and whatnot... I think he'll have a run of very interesting matches, very interesting feuds. And there will be people he will elevate along that path, " Matt Hardy said. [From 37:26 to 37:57]

Check out the video below:

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Matt Hardy believes that John Cena's final WWE run is going to be very emotional

In the same episode, Matt Hardy revealed that he believes John Cena's 2025 run is going to be a teary affair and WWE will not hold back to make the entire experience as emotional as possible.

"They will make it emotional... I think over the course of that time, he will do great. He willl elivate people. He will get people emotionally connected to him and his journey. I think he will leave WWE. You will still see him back as a figure on TV and he will fully focus on Hollywood and acting." Matt Hardy said [From 37:57 to 38:25]

Back in the early days of the Ruthless Aggression era (2002), Matt Hardy and John Cena battled multiple times in the ring. Sometimes they even teamed up to take on other tag teams however, Cena's popularity rose way more than Hardy's in the following years.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit The Extreme Life of Matt Hardy and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling.