AJ Styles says John Cena called their final WWE match in the ring

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On the latest episode of The Phenomenally Retro Podcast, Styles and co-host Tony Giles took questions from listeners about wrestling, gaming, and life in Japan. When he was asked his opinion on Cena, Styles sang his praises and revealed that the Never Seen 17 called their final bout at Crown Jewel 2025 in the ring.

“He was so good in the ring. I’m not saying he was the best athlete I’ve ever seen, but when it came to inside the ring? He could hear things that nobody else could, and he knew what to call and when to call it. And he could call it in the ring. In our last match, we didn’t have anything called in the beginning of that match. Nothing was called He just went, ‘I’ll call it.’ And I trusted him so much that I wasn’t worried about it.” AJ Styles on his final match with John Cena [23:10-23:40]

Styles might’ve been more in line with the original opinions of his diehard followers back in the day, and revealed on the podcast that he underestimated Cena’s in-ring presence initially.

AJ Styles was humbled by John Cena after they worked together in WWE

What made John Cena vs AJ Styles such an exciting concept of a feud was that it brought two completely different schools of thought in wrestling together. The WWE way of doing things, with their loud, boisterously charismatic characters taking the front seat over the in-ring vs a representative of Ring of Honor, Total Nonstop Action, and New Japan Pro Wrestling, which heavily focused on the wrestling aspect of, well, pro wrestling.

Styles wondered exactly what we all did about the man back in the day. Could Big Match John keep up in that ring? Just like many fans, Styles was shocked at the result.

“He is, if he’s not a genius, he’s right on that line. He’s so smart, so quick-witted, so in tune with what he’s trying to do. It’s unbelievable. Like, he is special, man. That’s why he was able to get to where he’s at. There was a time where I knew he was great at promos, and I said to him, ‘I’ll listen to you on the promos, you listen to me in the ring.’ Terrible mistake. [22:25-23:00]

Co-host Giles stated that nearly everyone who’s worked with WWE’s GOAT speaks highly of him, and if AJ Styles vouches for the guy, it must be legit.