John Cena leaves WWE fans gobsmacked with Backlash press conference moment that's never happened in company history

WWE big hitter John Cena shocked the media in a physical altercation at the press conference after the Backlash PPV in St Louis.

Cena controversially retained the Undisputed WWE Championship belt, catching Randy Orton with a low blow and knocking him down with the belt to secure the fall at the end of a lengthy match full of big bumps and sneaky tactics.

The 17-time world champion further cemented his unexpected heel turn by resorting to the dark arts to win the main event at the Enterprise Center.

He then made a rare appearance at the press conference after the event and it took a surprising turn of its own.

Cena interrupted WWE creative chief Triple H as he spoke to the media and whispered in his ear, prompting him to leave the stage.

"I'll answer that another time," said Triple H. "When the greatest of all time steps on stage you let him do his thing and I didn't know he was going to be here but ladies and gentlemen... John Cena."

"I need to be better with you guys," began Cena. "I need to begin to walk the talk and if I am the last real champion, and if I'm the greatest of all time, in this little time I have left I shouldn't patronise the people who help the reach of what we do.

"I should be more accepting and empathetic. In the past, I have not chosen to field any questions because I couldn't get out of my own way."

Gearing up to field those questions, Cena himself was interrupted by R-Truth, whose interference at the end of the Backlash main event prevented Cena from getting punted to oblivion by Orton and was followed by the low blow that led to the three-count in St Louis.

R-Truth laid it on thick with the champ but the mitigation to his praise – "even if people say you suck and can't wrestle" – returned the now-familiar dead stare to Cena's face.

"Ron," said Cena as he stood to face his fan, "that was over the line. You say one more thing and I promise there'll be repercussions."

And repercussions there were. Truth was on the wrong end of an Attitude Adjustment through the press conference table and Cena quietly left the scene.

WWE's post of the incident on X, formerly Twitter, is approaching 2 million views and has more than 47,000 likes and counting.

Cena became the first WWE superstar to turn a post-event press conference physical in full view of the cameras.

What that means for the future of Cena, Truth and the title belt remains to be seen.