Carmelo Hayes, Maxxine Dupri and others react to female WWE star paying homage to John Cena

John Cena is suddenly the talk of wrestling town after he announced his retirement from in-ring competition in 2025 after spending one last year with the WWE family. Naturally, many wrestlers, rising stars and veterans included want to step into the ring with the legend.

During Sami Zayn & Friends Do Cleveland ahead of SummerSlam, Indi Hartwell took the stage to rap to John Cena's iconic, 'The Time Is Now' entrance theme track. Her performance sparked several of her peers to react.

This includes Carmelo Hayes, who called the track "underrated." Cena originally recorded it in 2004 and was released the following year as part of his debut studio album, 'You Can't See Me.' Other stars such as Maxxine Dupri, Ivar, and JD McDonagh commended Indi Hartwell for her effort. However, Grayson Waller did not seem to be amused.

Check out her performance in the post below:

You can check out some reactions from Hartwell's peers in the screengrab below:

On SmackDown this past Friday, DIY dropped the WWE Tag Team Championship to The Bloodline's Jacob Fatu and Tama Tonga. Unfortunately for Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa, they had only won the belts a few weeks ago.

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Mark Henry praises John Cena's work in WWE as a "lifetime" babyface

In John Cena's career, ever since he was coronated as WWE Champion in 2005, there were several opportunities to turn him heel, but it never happened. Many fans were not too happy with this decision by higher-ups as The Cenation Leader had already proved before that he could also be an exceptional heel.

Speaking to TV Insider recently, the 16-time world champion's former rival Mark Henry slammed fans for wanting John Cena to turn heel. He likened the legend to another lifetime babyface, Ricky Steamboat, and noted that Cena should always be revered for his good guy role.

"People wanted John Cena to turn heel. John Cena and Ricky Steamboat, lifetime babyfaces. That’s who they are. That is what they were designed to be. They stuck to their guns. The New Day, too. Embrace it, love it, don’t call it goody two shoes. The people that boo John Cena and wished violence upon him back then, you all need a whooping. He should be revered," said Henry.

Cena admitted that he wants to be part of WWE as the company's product will be accessible via Netflix from 2025 onwards. He has also stated that after retiring from in-ring competition, he hopes to share his wisdom with the younger athletes.