The WWE legend steps out to celebrate Wrestlemania in the UK as rival AEW gears up for the London extravaganza

Wrestling legend John Cena shocked fans with a pitch to hold wwe Westlemania’s biggest live event, the so-called “Super Bowl of Wrestling” that has never taken place outside of North America, in London.

WWE brought its premium live event called Money in the Bank to London’s O2 arena on Saturday, marking its second major UK event in the past year.

Cena, a 16-time WWE World Champion and now a Hollywood movie star, surprised fans with an appearance at Money in the Bank, after an absence of nearly three months.

The crowd erupted as his revealing entrance music played, but Cena wasn’t there to fight, but rather to throw to celebrate Wrestlemania in London.

“It’s not up to me, it’s up to the decision makers. They don’t necessarily know how to feel about London,” Cena said at the packed O2 Arena who booed the suggestion.

“They think this is a hostile environment,” Cena said, to which the crowd responded with a louder chorus of boos.

“They think sometimes you guys are a distraction. They even think you’re trying to take over the show,” Cena said, to which the crowd cheered loudly in agreement.

“See that? They don’t know what they’re talking about. You’re the voice. You’re the heartbeat. You’re not trying to run the show. You’re the show,” Cena said.

“So I’m here to try to bring Wrestlemania to London.”

The fans erupted in applause once again.

“Take a moment right now, let them see, let them feel, let them hear what WrestleMania in London will sound like,” Cena added.

Wrestlemania is WWE’s largest live event and has never taken place outside of North America. This year’s edition was held in California.

However, WWE has sought to do more of its premium live events, which occur about once a month, outside of the US. This year alone, WWE has held such events in Canada, Saudi Arabia, Puerto Rico and the United Kingdom.

WWE’s creative process is carefully written. It’s unclear if Cena went off script in his comments about London and Wrestlemania. However, WWE is making headway in international markets and if the comments were planned, it’s significant that Cena was chosen to deliver them, given his significant status in the company’s history.

Paul “Triple H” Levesque, WWE’s chief content officer, said Saturday that Cena had put him in an “unenviable” position regarding his attempt to make the UK the location of Wrestlemania. However, he did not close the door on the possibility.

“So never say never for any of that. The intention is there. It’s a lot harder than it sounds, but the intention is there. And if there’s a way to do a lot of these international events, we’re hell-bent on doing it.” Levesque said.

Talk of WWE’s main live event in the UK comes at an interesting time for WWE, which is currently in the process of merging with the UFC. Meanwhile, rising rival AEW will host the ‘All In’ live event at Wembley Stadium in the UK in August, a larger venue than the O2 arena where WWE held Money in the Bank.

Last week, AEW CEO Tony Khan told CNBC that AEW has sold 65,000 tickets to the event so far, for almost $9 million.

“It’s the biggest wrestling event ever in Europe and in professional wrestling history, only a couple of the biggest WrestleMania shows rank next to AEW All In as the top earning wrestling shows. in the history of the business. And that show is still a few months away,” Khan told CNBC.

AEW is WWE’s closest rival and has poached some of WWE’s top talent in recent years.