Alberto Del Rio reacts to John Cena's WWE retirement (Exclusive)

Alberto Del Rio shared the ring with John Cena more than 80 times between 2010 and 2016. In an exclusive interview, the former WWE star gave his thoughts on his legendary rival announcing his intention to retire.

On July 6, Cena revealed he will have a retirement tour in 2025 before hanging up his boots at the end of the year. Del Rio's final WWE match came against the 16-time world champion in 2016. Eight years on, the Mexican still wrestles regularly and will challenge Ray Gonzalez for the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship on September 21.

Ahead of his upcoming title match, Del Rio spoke to Sportskeeda Wrestling's Riju Dasgupta about whether Cena's retirement surprised him:

"Yes and no. Yes because he still has a lot to give to the business, but no because he's doing something different. All of his passion is into the acting world and not so much into the wrestling world, and you can see it in his body, his face. It's not the same face that it was 10 years ago when he was performing. There's something different if you look into his eyes. It just looks different." [12:19 – 12:53]

At the height of his WWE career, Cena had one of the most impressive physiques in the wrestling business. While the 47-year-old is still in great shape today, Del Rio does not think his condition is the same as when he wrestled:

"His body tells you that he's not in the gym killing it every day and training every day. He probably does but not the way he used to do it when he was in the WWE every week where he was a working horse. Jesus Christ, he would train four or five hours a day and then he would go and perform and then be up the next day in the morning at five in the morning." [12:55 – 13:19]

Watch the video above to hear Del Rio's take on several topics, including his long-term rivalry and real-life bond with Nic Nemeth (fka Dolph Ziggler).

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Alberto Del Rio on John Cena's different training methods

In 2015, John Cena significantly reduced his WWE in-ring schedule to focus on acting. Since then, he has starred in the Peacemaker television series and films including F9, Ricky Stanicky, and The Suicide Squad.

While wrestlers build muscle for strength and endurance, Alberto Del Rio thinks Cena's workouts these days revolve around looking good for the camera:

"I'm pretty sure that [version of] John Cena is not there anymore. It's a different John Cena, probably training to look good in the mirror, and going and taking more acting classes to become a better actor because that's what John Cena is, a hard-working man. It doesn't matter what the profession is. He's gonna come and bring and learn and give you the best of it." [13:19 – 13:40]

Cena has not competed in a WWE match since teaming with The Miz and R-Truth to defeat The Judgment Day on the April 8 episode of RAW.

What are your thoughts on John Cena's retirement? Hit the discuss button and let us know.

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WWC presents Black September this Saturday at the Trujillo Alto Coliseum in Puerto Rico. For the WWC Universal Heavyweight Championship, Puerto Rico's Greatest of All Time, Mr. Rayting, Ray Gonzalez, defends against AAA's Mega Champion, Alberto Del Rio.

On September 29, fans can also watch WWC's 51st Anniversary show on PPV on Triller TV.

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