AEW star shares an emotional message following John Cena's in-ring retirement

An AEW star has gained attention after posting an emotional tribute following John Cena's retirement from wrestling.

Last night, WWE hosted Saturday Night's Main Event XLII. The pay-per-view was especially meaningful because it featured the final career match of the legendary John Cena, who was ending a decorated wrestling career that spanned over 20 years. On the night, the Never Seen 17 faced Gunther, the winner of the Last Time is Now tournament, which earned him the right to face Cena in his final match. Ahead of their bout, the Ring General had promised to make the Franchise Player do something he'd never done before in his career: give up. The Austrian star did just that by making the Leader of the Cenation tap out to his sleeper hold, ending what was a stellar match between the two and, at the same time, Cena's career. Following the match, there was an outpouring of tributes for the Last Real Champion, with one coming from AEW star Christopher Daniels.

In a post on X, Daniels, who retired from in-ring competition in January this year and works in talent relations at AEW, shared an old black-and-white photo of himself wrestling Cena, along with an emotional message that read:

"Thank you John. And congratulations on all your success. Sorry we only did this once. #ThankYouCena."

AEW star Mercedes Mone recently pulled a "Liv Morgan" on Christopher Daniels

WWE Survivor Series: WarGames 2025 featured the return of the absent WWE star Liv Morgan, who appeared to interfere in the Intercontinental Championship match between John Cena and Dominik Mysterio. At first, the "Watch Me" star made fans think she had turned face after she slapped Mysterio and embraced Cena. However, it turned out to be a ruse as she quickly kicked the Never Seen 17 in the groin, giving Mysterio the upper hand to hit Cena with the 619 and a frog splash for the pin and the victory.

In last week's edition of Collision, Mercedes Mone took a page out of Morgan's book. The CEO was defending her AEW TBS title against Leila Gray, who Christopher Daniels joined at ringside. The match ended after Mone applied the Mone Maker submission on Gray for the win, but refused to release it even after the bell rang. This prompted Daniels to enter the ring and break things up, only for the CEO to kick him in the nuts.

Read all the hottest WWE news from Sportskeeda by choosing us as your preferred source. Click HERE.

Edited by Karan Raj