According to Andrew Zarian of the Mat Men Podcast (who recently broke the news of WWE returning to touring in July), the whole thing didn't 'go well' with a portion of WWE employees.
There are speculations that the former franchise player of the company might receive some backstage heat for the apology and Zarian noted on the situation saying, “Disappointment is more the word I heard coming from some talent.”
The source later added, “The apology bothers [WWE] because they didn’t issue it. It was outside pressure that they have no control over... A lot of the chatter from non-executive level status was negative. Personally, I don’t know what the boards' opinion was but I have heard it’s not positive”
During a promotional tour for Fast & Furious 9 (a film directed by Taiwanese-American Justin Lin), John Cena referred to Taiwan as “the first country” to watch the film speaking to TVBS that sparked outrage among the Chinese fans. The video went viral receiving nearly 3 million views on Weibo, as the Chinese media demanded an apology from the WWE Superstar.
It should be noted that Fast & Furious 9 was released in Hong Kong on May 19 and will hit theaters in the United States later next month. Per the demand of Chinese fans, the Cenation Leader later posted a video message on the Sina Weibo platform to clarify his previous comments. He didn't directly mention Taiwan or its relationship with China.
“Hi China, I’m John Cena. I’m in the middle of Fast & Furious 9 promotions. I’m doing a lot of interviews. I made a mistake in one of my interviews,” Cena said in Mandarin [h/t/SCMP]. “Everyone was asking me if I could use Chinese… the staff [of the movie] gave me a lot of information, so there was a lot of interviews and information."
"I made one mistake. I have to say something very, very, important now. I love and respect China and Chinese people. I’m very, very sorry about my mistake. I apologize, I’m very sorry. You must understand that I really love, really respect China and the Chinese people. My apologies. See you.”
While a former WWE Champion like CM Punk trolled Cena by changing his bio to “Taiwan is a country," WWE Hall of Famer JBL has defended his former rival. The Texas-native pointed out Cena’s philanthropic endeavors and “incredible track record of making the world better.”
Recent reports claim that John Cena has reportedly been in talks to return to WWE TV on the July 16th episode of SmackDown as the company resumes touring with fans in attendance from that date. There’s no update whether this backlash over the apology to China fans will cost his return to WWE.
As of now, the sixteen-time world champion is busy wrapping up production for the HBO Max series Peacemaker in Vancouver, British Columbia. He is expected to return to the United States in the first week of July, which could finally allow him to block some future dates with the WWE.
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