John Cena recalls what he told AEW star during their WWE match: "F**king enjoy this, do not let this go away"

WWE's John Cena recently opened up about a great match from the past against AEW's Adam Copeland, in which he got booed despite being the babyface.

Edge is widely considered one of John Cena's greatest rivals ever, as they had some iconic matches revolving around the world championship. One of their best-ever in-ring contests happened at Unforgiven 2006, where Edge defended the WWE Championship against the Cenation Leader in a Tables, Ladders, and Chairs match.

Cena might have been the good guy in the storyline, but the expectation was for Edge to get cheered in his hometown, Toronto.

While recalling details of the match on After the Bell, John Cena revealed everyone backstage knew he was going to get booed at Unforgiven.

"Cena vs. Edge, Toronto. Yeah, Ladder match. They never played the audio back, and I think I even said it in; we did a doc about Adam, and they knew the audience was going to switch," said the 16-time WWE Champion. "We all did, everyone knows. And the feeling behind the curtain was don't break." [27:00 - 27:25]

John Cena knew wrestling in front of his people would be special for Edge, and at the beginning of their match, he made sure to tell his opponent not to worry about how the crowd was reacting.

In kayfabe, fans were supposed to get behind Cena in his battle against Edge, but in this scenario, the roles were reversed for one night.

"As soon as we got out there, as soon as we got out," Cena continued, "you can see me circling at the very beginning of this. And I know they mic'd the ring, so it's somewhere. I'm telling Edge, 'F**king enjoy this. Do not let this go away. F**king drink this in.' [27:26 - 27:45]

Sometimes, the bad guy is the local hero: John Cena

The Franchise Player is no stranger to polarizing reactions as the 'Let's go, Cena, Cena s**ks' routine was pretty prominent at one point in time.

Cena, over the years, has also learned how to read the crowd and wrestle matches that fit the occasion. On that night at Unforgiven in 2006, John Cena quickly realized the way they could change the narrative of the match to justify fans cheering for the heel.

Cena expertly broke down how he and Edge proceeded to tell an amazing story inside the squared circle without compromising on their respective characters.

"I know we can play with it and the virtuous John Cena at the end before he puts the hometown hero through two tables, looks down, and goes, 'I don't want to do this, but I have to,' and that's the way we can play with that virtue. And the audience can also go like, 'Oh sh**, this is serious, wow!' And we can lean into the fact that Edge is from Toronto, and he's got family in the audience. We can't ignore any of that; that's what makes the story. Sometimes, the bad guy is the local hero, and that's okay." [27:46 - 28:35]

Cena also opened up about having his wife at ringside. You can read more on that here.