John Cena wrestled Batista at WWE SummerSlam 2007, during the match John Cena injured his neck. It was expected that John Cena would be out of action for quite a long time. But everybody were shocked when John Cena made his return at WWE Royal Rumble 2008.
John Cena recently was on Insight with Chris Van Vliet podcast, where he talked about his 2008 Royal Rumble return.
“So I completely respect James Andrews who did the surgery and Kevin Wilkin, who did help me with physical therapy. They have to put a realistic timeline on their work. And that timeline is based on the construct that you do physical therapy three times a week. I would do physical therapy three times a day. And I moved to Birmingham, and my goal as a professional was to get back on the field in a safe manner. So because I just did a lot, six days a week, you heal. I was pretty much put in a heal tank, I didn’t have to go back.”
“The reason they say six months for a pec tear, is because a lot of people that tear their pecs, maybe they did it during recreational sport, or maybe they’re a student athlete, or they have other responsibilities, people’s got families or whatever, you have to split time. I was like, a physical therapy Terminator. Show up for the morning session, go get some food show for the noon session, go get some food show up for the afternoon session as they’re closing. Alright guys see you in a few hours. And I just did that for three months.”
“And everyone Dr. Andrews was fine. Kevin was fine. I passed all my tests. And I passed it like two and a half months in and the Rumble was coming up. And they’re like, Okay, we’ll keep it a secret. I don’t want to advertise you. Because I don’t even know if you’re gonna be there. But then when everybody gave the Okay, they’re like we really have the chance to keep something secret. And it was only let out to like a few people. And, once again, we only remember the moments. Tell me anything I did in that. [You won]. Bingo. But the action to win was very slim. The action was very simple. Because it was as it happens, we couldn’t really plan anything crazy, because we didn’t want people to tell people to tell people to spoil the surprise. So it was like he’s coming out. He’s gonna win. That’s happening now. Oh, so it was great.” (H/T: Chris Van Vliet)