In a recent interview with Graham Matthews of Bleacher Report, former WWE Champion John Cena opened up on not being part of this year’s WrestleMania 37 pay-per-view, the first time that he has missed a WrestleMania in almost two decades.

“We all have a window and I love listening to Stone Cold Steve Austin talk about his window. My goal when I stepped foot in the WWE was to leave it better than I found it and it’s really great to be able to see an event. I almost had the best transition you can possibly have, my last two WrestleMania’s were very interesting, an almost cinematic-type match and before that, I was a fan, I got to sit in the crowd and see WrestleMania, I got to see the product, I got to see a stadium full of fans and it was beautiful, I felt at home.

I want to be where I am and doing what I am, that’s why I made that choice. I think it’s really special and we all think they’re never going to go on without us, that’s not true, it’s more re-assuring to me to not only see that WWE has a life after me, which is inevitable for sure, but that the life is thriving, there’s so many great storylines, so many great matches, it’s called WrestleMania, not CenaMania, you know. I’ve been a part of it and that part is over.”

The interview is available in full at this link.