We would have a small breakfast. We would talk about what we’re going to do for the day, maybe talk about how we slept. Is there anything we need to be aware of? Am I missing something? Is there a trip we need to plan for? Just like a 45-minute to an hour warm-up of, like, ‘So, what would you like to do?’

We’d more than likely agree that we’re going to the gym. We would both train. We don’t train together. She has her own path, and I have my own path, but we like to be in the same space together, which is great. She’s in charge of the music, so I would be in store for two hours of techno covers, which in itself is an exercise in patience for me.

I would break a sweat and hopefully move around to feel stronger and more flexible.

At the end of the gym period, I would love to go with her to a café, and we would spend another hour reflecting on what’s happened and maybe what we want to do.

I would give both of us probably three to four hours of individual time, where I would go play piano, try to maybe mess around with language a little bit, and read a little. I’d probably look at the car market and make an irresponsible decision that my wife will talk me out of.

Thank you so much for saving me so much money. I appreciate you.

Then I would love to take my wife to dinner at a place where we can sit and watch the world. I love alfresco dining, especially when the weather is nice. We’d probably start out with an espresso martini and then search the menu for things we can share. I wasn’t a big food sharer before, being from a family of five. She’s talked me into that, and I love it.

Maybe a good bottle of wine between the two of us. Maybe, if we’re lucky, another one.

Get home safely, and gosh, I would love some intimate time, too, at the end of the day. But that’s only going to take me 90 seconds. So, I mean, we can work that out, you know? Ending the day with that intimate connection with the person I love the most and stretching it out, hopefully right till midnight, would be getting the most out of the day.”

All of these things are data that’s hitting me in the face. And those times, those numbers, the strength numbers are never going back up. The times are never going to get smaller. It’s going to take longer and longer.

Not to say that I still don’t have good performances left. I could probably get in there and still do some stuff.

But when is the math going to not work? And at that point, gosh, people are paying a lot for tickets, and I’m robbing them of that investment.

So I just looked at the data. I looked at the schedule. A lot of stuff is going on, and I’m passionate about what I’m doing. I don’t want to take away from people on the production side who invested all this money in me. I don’t want to take away from that.

Let’s close this chapter while we still can do great work and hopefully tell a year-long, riveting story. And it was.”

So when it’s supposed to be real, you got these guys who are trying to convince fans to come in the building and see them, and they assume the role, and it’s really tough to shut the switch off.

It was a steep hill to climb for wrestling, but one of the best things they did is admit that it was entertainment. It is not pure sport, because it was dishonest. Now we’re honest. So that was the mid-’90s. Tough hill to climb. You got to recorrect. You got to rebrand.

But the audience has always been rabid, whether they thought it was real or they know that they’re coming to a show. Wrestling has always been filmed, shot, consumed as the audience is just as important as the performer, whether you know it or not.

When you look at what we do, tons of crowd shots, crowds chanting. They’re literally like European football crowds.

But we don’t want them to shut up. We want them to keep being as rowdy as they can, because if we perform to apathetic silence, it’s really just kind of two guys in their underwear doing stunts.

We got over, and I was happy to be involved in a lot of that rebranding process. Also, the product goes through phases. You cater to your audience. In the ’80s, Hulk Hogan was nationalist virtue, you know, ‘Say your prayers, eat your vitamins,’ you know, do good. And then Stone Cold Steve Austin, the Attitude Era, was drink beer, flip off your boss. And then more families started to show up around the time that I started.”

When young talent come to me frustrated, like, ‘Hey, man, creative kind of has nothing for me,’ I love anecdotes, especially professional ones. I had a back-to-back main event run with The Rock at WrestleMania, two of the most productive events in WWE history. My next WrestleMania main event was Cody Rhodes in Las Vegas. I stayed in the middle, which no one remembers.

If John can do whatever he wants and gets all the great storylines, it was 13 years later when I got back to the main event of WrestleMania as a marquee match. I wasn’t frustrated at all. I operated with absolute joy and fulfillment with my craft because I didn’t put any expectations on myself of, like, ‘I want to be the champion. I want to be the face of the company.’ No, I just want to do good work.

Where people get caught up is like, I love [CM] Punk, and his obsession with main eventing WrestleMania, I think, is a weakness. And I think if you talk to him now, he evolves as a human being. Every time I see him, he evolves as a man. And that’s only my personal preference. I think he’s carrying a weight he doesn’t need. That’s all. It’s not a weakness. I think he’s carrying a weight he doesn’t need.

As far as Cody wanting to be this thing, you’re carrying a weight you don’t need. Just do great work and the people will show up.”

I know there’s sentiment out there that, like, ‘man, they’re wasting Gunther.’ Maybe currently they are, but I don’t see the view from the penthouse. I’m not in those meetings where they’re just looking at the whiteboard, you know, connecting the dots. Maybe they’re just cooling him off. Maybe they’re putting him away from TV. I don’t know.

What I am going to do is I’m not going to challenge the opinion of, like, ‘hey, I’m not going to give this for this guy and you’re going to forget him.’ This is the work I need to do for today, and we’re going to make him look the best we can, and I’m going to give him as much steam as I can.

And what you do with it afterwards, that ain’t my call.”

We will do an event based off all of the memory, the nostalgia, and the IP and core values of the character, which is me: hustle, loyalty, respect, perseverance, virtue, you know, overcoming the odds, and giving the vote to the people.

Our audience will decide our champion on that night. It is a unique live event.

I don’t know if it is going to work.

I’m still taking bold chances in the WWE space, and I’m proud to be helping the John Cena Classic.”

It was Paul [Triple H]’s idea. And he even says himself, he asked me, and in two seconds it was a yes. Just like facing Brock [Lesnar], [Randy] Orton, or Gunther. Yes. That’s how I do business. Yes. Just let me tell the story my way, you know.

So if we never did it, I would have been fine. It would have been nice for you guys to write about, like, ‘Oh man, he never did it.’

I wouldn’t change a thing. I’m glad we got to do it because it helps me now when I speak to younger talent and say, ‘Yo, be bold, take chances, don’t worry about failing.’

I come from a place of activity, not a place of privilege, where I’m in some sort of protected bubble. A lot of folks will say, like, ‘The heel turn failed.’ Okay, I accept that as a failure, but I swung boldly.

A lot of folks were upset with the finish of the last match. Goodness, I accept that critique, and I feel great that I swung boldly in my final moments.

It helps me as now a conduit to talk to people who might not be able to understand my journey and be like, ‘Yo, man, I’m swinging.’ Even with the John Cena Classic, I’m still swinging big.”

I’m gonna take your chant and say that because a lot of you folks spent a whole lot of resources on my farewell tour. And if I decide to selfishly come back for ego-driven reasons, basically that’s saying I’m lying to every one of y’all.

You might not mind, but there are people who paid a fortune to sit at that last match, and for me to be like, ‘just kidding.’ I’ve had so many families that put so so much effort into saving just to see those moments. For me, I’m out of it with my health. I feel good. I got good clarity, good closure. As far as me falling down ever again, I’m out.”