Outside of her personal experiences with Cena, Natalya also looked back at when he quickly rose to the top in WWE, noting that it was just after the Benoit tragedy. She explained that Cena not only did great things for WWE, but brought positivity to the promotion and the industry right after it experienced one of its worst moments. “It’s not something that we talk about often, and I don’t – personally, because of how tragic it all was, because it’s a very hard topic, but John really helped WWE in such a massive way,” she recalled. “He’s just somebody that I’m so proud to have worked with him through the years. I’m so proud to have been on tours with John, I’m so proud to have known him as a friend.” 

Although Cena is getting ready to wrap up his in-ring career, Natalya doesn’t believe he’ll disappear from the industry. “WWE and wrestling in general – all around the world – and I’ve been around every walk of life in this industry; it’s like Hotel California: you can check out anytime you want, but you can never leave it,” Natalya expressed, adding that despite how Cena might be gearing up for retirement, he will never truly be able to separate himself from the pro wrestling industry. “He’s embedded in it. He’s always going to be a big part of it, he’s very special to it,” she added.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit “Busted Open Radio” and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.