John Cena has finally addressed his heel run and his ongoing retirement tour after weeks of speculation and commentary from across the wrestling industry. Appearing at Fan Expo Chicago, “The Champ” fielded questions from fans and offered rare insight into his mindset surrounding one of the most talked-about phases of his career.

When asked if he was upset about how his heel run was received, Cena was quick to clarify that he was not. “No. I wasn’t upset. I just know I failed. Ain’t nothing wrong with that. You can learn from failure, right? I went out there and bombed. S*** happens, guys. Come on now,” he said, earning laughter from the crowd for his honesty.

He went on to encourage the fan to finish their question, which explored how he might have handled the storyline differently had he known The Rock would not be involved. Cena’s answer reflected his grounded outlook. “Man, what I’m hearing is: ‘In a hypothetical universe, what different choices would you make?’ I will answer that with: hindsight is a waste of time,” he responded.

Cena added that he prefers to focus on the present and the excitement of his farewell run. “We got 11 dates left. I think I’ll be able to talk about all this bupkus in January after the whole thing is over. But we’ve taken the audience on a hell of a ride this year,” he said. “We still got a ways left to go, so I’m excited about that.”

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