"I regret that" – WWE legend refused John Cena's special AA idea
John Cena's Attitude Adjustment, also known as the AA, has been one of the top WWE finishers of the last two decades. In a recent podcast episode, John Bradshaw Layfield (JBL) recalled how he refused to receive a unique version of the legendary move.
In 2004, JBL appointed fellow wrestler Orlando Jordan as his Chief of Staff after creating the Cabinet faction on SmackDown. Cena once wanted to hit Jordan and Layfield with an AA at the same time. However, the latter rejected the idea due to fears he would suffer an injury.
On the Something to Wrestle podcast, JBL admitted to host Conrad Thompson that he wishes he had gone along with Cena's suggestion:
"The only one that I regret, it was later in my career, and I had gotten hurt a lot. Cena wanted to put Orlando on his shoulders and me on top and do the double AA to us, and I knew I'd get hurt because I'd been hurt so many times recently with that. I thought, 'I'm just gonna get hurt. I'm gonna hurt my back.' I thought physically I can't take it, and I had to tell John, 'I think I'm gonna get hurt.' To this day, I regret that." [1:05:27 – 1:05:51]
In 2005, John Cena defeated JBL at WrestleMania 21 to capture his first WWE Championship. The 48-year-old has won another 16 world titles since then, breaking Ric Flair's long-standing championship record.
John Cena moment caused JBL to consider his WWE future
Although JBL did not retire until 2009, he seriously questioned his status as a WWE wrestler years earlier after rejecting John Cena's idea.
According to the 58-year-old, the moment with John Cena led to the realization he could no longer physically perform at the top level.
"It's not a sh***y thing to do, but it just felt sh***y, as much as I love John and everything," JBL continued. "He ended up hitting me with an AA, or Orlando with an AA, or both of us, different times, but I wanted to do it. I just knew I physically couldn't do it. That's when I realized, you know what, it's about time for me to get out of here." [1:05:53 – 1:06:12]
JBL won several titles in the wrestling business, including the WWE Championship once and the WWE tag titles three times with Faarooq. He also worked as a commentator after his full-time in-ring career ended.
Please credit Something to Wrestle and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use quotes from this article.
