In a shock announcement during the WWE Money In The Bank pay-per-view event in 2024, John Cena confirmed his impending retirement from professional wrestling, set to take place in 2025.
While he shared his retirement plans, Cena also mentioned his intention to being active in WWE throughout the upcoming year, with an aim to wrestle in 30-40 matches before he officially withdraws from the wrestling ring.
Fellow WWE wrestler, Matt Hardy, discussed Cena’s approaching retirement tour on a recent installment of his podcast, “Extreme Life”. Hardy mentioned that Cena certainly deserves to break Ric Flair’s record of sixteen world championships.
Highlights from the podcast are shared below:
Regarding John Cena’s retirement: “John’s decision to retire seems a fitting one. I believe his desire is to focus on his Hollywood career and other acting endeavors. By defining a definite timeline like 2025 for his retirement, he gives the fans a year of potentially engaging matches and rivalries. Expect him to elevate other wrestlers along this journey, making for emotional story-telling. I believe his departure will be deeply felt by fans. Even after quitting wrestling full-time, I think he would continue his association with WWE and Hollywood.”
On the prospect of Cena breaking the World Title record: “I would wholeheartedly support that. Cena’s loyalty to WWE is unquestionable. He certainly feels like a worthy candidate for this esteemed honor, considering his entire career has been devoted to WWE. He is indisputably one of the most dedicated employees WWE ever had.”
On Cena’s final match potentially being a title match: “I think a title run with Cena could be immensely valuable. If fans emotionally connect to his journey, talking about ‘how they don’t want it to end’, and he ends up in a title match with a win, that would be epic. Give him a short reign of about a month where he’s on top, and then have him lose conclusively to someone else, effectively giving the new person a great push, having defeated the GOAT with the most reigns. I do see a lot of potential in that idea.”