"We all take defeats in life"

John Cena: "I never thought of losing. But now that it's happened the only thing to do is to do it right. That is the obligation to those who believe in me. We all take defeats in life. Those are famous words from the great Muhammed Ali. Now tonight you guys have seen various clips of various things that I've said on this road to WrestleMania. And I'll be quite honest: I've talked. I've talked a lot. I've talked so much that anybody else in my shoes right now would be making excuses, backtracking, saying that it wasn't their fault. That is not me. That will never be me. I meant every single thing that I said. I meant it then, I mean it now. There is not one second in the year long built up to WrestleMania, that I ever thought that I was going to lose. Because if you think like that, then, my friend, you have already lost. But no one goes undefeated in life. And a true champion retains the will to win even through their most disappointing loss.

Now with that being said, there was a lot speculation on how I would react to all of this. Would I be a person to come out here and make excuses? Would I be a person to come out here and lash out on my opponents? Would this finally be the day that I finally lash out at the WWE Universe? I hate to be the bearer of bad news, that will not happen. I am a man. I was beaten. So as a man I will own up and admit defeat. Last night at WrestleMania I lost to The Rock. There will be some critics that make last nights moment the most important of my career, but I asure you it will not be my last. To all of those who have supported me through all this, from members of the WWE Universe to some of my close friends to my family -- I even see 'em out in the audience. And I will point them out right now. It's Machine Gun Kelly. Your feelings aside, that was a wonderful performance and a damn fine speech. If I have led you or anyone else down tonight, I truely apologize. The only thing I can do to make amends, is wipe the slate clean, work my ass off and try to be the best I can be.

But now to adress the rumor mill, the gossip column, that I am actually here to call out The Rock. I am not here to call out The Rock. Because when you call someone out you wanna fight. The Rock and I have been calling each other out for a year and we settled it last night. ["We want Lesnar"-Chants werden laut] But always interesting crowd at Monday Night Raw. I actually want The Rock. I would like to invite The Rock to come back down to the ring. Not to talk trash, not to fight. Because respect is a word that I hold close and Dwayne Johnson after all that he's been through with me is a man who has earned my respect. I want you to know, I want the world to know, more importantly I want The Rock to know that I consider him a champion. I want The Rock to know that I consider him an inspiration. I want The Rock to know that after last night I truely can consider him the greatest WWE Superstar in this industry.

So in that vein, I know you're all having fun tonight, I say we have one more moment of celebration for Miami, Florida's own, Dwayne Johnson, right in the middle of this ring. Dwayne, on a personal note, and I know you're watching, this past year has been exhausting. We let it all out on the line physically, and often times way over the line verbally. ["We want Lesnar"] I understand the excitement in the air, but I put my heart and soul into last night. And to be quite honest I came up short. The Rock was the better man. ["YES! YES! YES!"] Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! Daniel Bryan, you owe me one. I personally respect Dwayne Johnson... ["Let's go, Bryan!"] This is why I love Raw. All kidding aside, I just want one second to publicly acknowledge that The Rock was the better man at WrestleMania and I would really like to congratulate him on his victory."

Statt The Rock kommt tatsächlich Brock Lesnar zum Ring und verpasst John Cena den F-5.