John Cena reflected on the significance of wrestling at Madison Square Garden hours before his final appearance in the building as an active performer.
Cena sat down with Sam Roberts and Megan Morant several hours before Raw on Monday for the Raw Recap podcast.
It was Cena’s final match at Madison Square Garden, where he would team with Rey Mysterio & Sheamus against Dominik Mysterio, Finn Balor & JD McDonagh. Cena spoke about the history of Madison Square Garden and preserving its importance among the roster.
I think that every person in WWE should understand the history of this place. That way, when they are awarded the opportunity to stand on the canvas, this building shouldn’t just mean something to me. Over the years, I’ve seen the importance kind of erode away, and I think it’s got a resurgence now. That makes me feel good because this is a place. If you are allowed to perform, you’re a professional.
Cena first wrestled at The Garden in June 2003, on a SmackDown taping against Orlando Jordan, one year after being brought up from Ohio Valley Wrestling. Other standout moments include Cena’s surprise return at the Royal Rumble in January 2008 and teaming with The Rock at the Survivor Series in 2011.
While the Garden has often been looked at as he “home” arena for the WWE, the promotion stopped running the building consistently after the Survivor Series in November 2011. Over the next eight years, they only ran two house shows at the building, with the Barclays Center in Brooklyn taking precedence. However, WWE has made Madison Square Garden a priority over the past years.
Monday’s episode of Raw distributed over 18,000 tickets, according to WrestleTix, and was likely one of the biggest arena gates the company has generated.
Cena has two more scheduled appearances with the Survivor Series on November 28 in San Diego, and his retirement match at Saturday Night’s Main Event on December 13 in Washington, D.C.
