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By Andrew Ravens
Contributing Sports Writer
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As John Cena’s retirement tour winds down, one of his former rivals remains unconvinced that the 17-time world champion is truly finished with his in-ring career. Current WWE star Rusev recently shared his thoughts on Cena's impending exit.
During an interview with Shakiel Mahjouri at SHAK Wrestling, Rusev opened up about his history with Cena and his skepticism regarding the retirement announcement. The former AEW star admitted he doesn't believe Cena is done for good and hopes to see him return one day.
“I don’t believe it. I’m not holding my breath. I love John [Cena], and this may be his last match of this century or whatnot, but at some point, I want to see him back, whenever that is”.
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Rusev and Cena share a storied history, having faced each other multiple times, most notably in a high-profile rivalry for the United States Championship. Their program began in 2015 and included a "WrestleMania" match, with their last singles encounter occurring in 2017.
While Cena is preparing for his final match, Rusev recently competed for the Intercontinental Championship at "Saturday Night's Main Event" in a Triple Threat match against champion Dominik Mysterio and Penta.
In the same interview with Shakiel Mahjouri, Rusev also addressed his time in All Elite Wrestling. He specifically spoke about rumors that he had refused to do jobs, or lose matches, while working for the promotion.
Rusev firmly denied these claims, attributing them to "dirt sheets" spreading misinformation without proof. “There’s a lot of rumors out there, but the problem is that a lot of these rumors are spread by one person, by these dirt sheets, so-called dirt sheets. And they have no evidence, no proof, right?".
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More news: WWE Superstar Announces Retirement Match
He continued, "They just can go out there, run a story … and nothing can be traced back to them. ‘Oh, I heard, I saw, duh-duh, duh duh.’". Rusev pointed to his own match history in AEW as evidence contradicting the rumors.
"… Clearly, if you judge, just by this run, obviously that doesn’t make any sense. Clearly when I lost [the title to] to Sammy Guevara, that didn’t make any sense. When I lost to [Bryan Danielson] right after, that didn’t make any sense. When I lost to whoever … So let the people go back and review whatever and we can talk about that”.
Rusev's focus now shifts to John Cena's "Last Time Is Now Tournament," which will determine Cena's final opponent for his December 13th retirement match. Rusev was announced as one of the 16 participants. He is scheduled to face Damian Priest in a first-round match on the upcoming November 10th episode of "Monday Night Raw."
Should Rusev win the entire tournament, he would get his wish of seeing Cena in the ring one last time, albeit as the man who retires him.
More WWE News:
- Released WWE Superstar Retires From Pro Wrestling
- Released WWE Star Breaks Silence On Departure
- Released WWE Star Wants To Join AEW
For more on WWE, head to Newsweek Sports.
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