WWE legend John Cena, a 16-time champion and future Hall of Famer, has announced his retirement from professional wrestling. Cena, 47, made the surprising announcement during the Money in the Bank Pay Per View event in Canada, revealing that 2025 will be his final year in the ring.
During the event, Cena delivered an emotional promo, stating, “Tonight, I am officially announcing my retirement from the WWE.” WWE Head of Creative, Paul ‘Triple H’ Levesque, shared a heartfelt video on Twitter of him and Cena hugging backstage, captioned “The Greatest of All Time.” Cena clarified that his last match would be at WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas, but he plans to participate in 30-40 events before his final bow.
Cena’s retirement marks the end of a 23-year career with WWE, during which he tied the legendary Ric Flair for the most top title wins, capturing the WWE championship 13 times and the world heavyweight title three times. Cena began performing part-time in 2018, focusing on elevating younger talent. His last match was against Solo Sikoa at Crown Jewel 2023, where he lost after taking 10 Samoan Spikes.
Cena has headlined five WrestleManias, WWE’s flagship event. His last WrestleMania victory came in 2017 when he and then-fiancé Nikki Bella defeated The Miz and Maryse in an inter-gender tag-team match. Since then, Cena faced a series of losses, including a defeat by the late Bray Wyatt at WrestleMania 36 and Austin Theory at WrestleMania 39. He made a surprise return at WrestleMania 40 to assist Cody Rhodes in a main-event match against Roman Reigns.
Cena signed with WWE in 2001, starting in their developmental program, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW). He made his official WWE debut on June 27, 2002, answering Kurt Angle’s open challenge. Transitioning into his “Doctor of Thuganomics” persona, Cena won his first singles title, the US Championship, at WrestleMania 20 and captured his first WWE title a year later at WrestleMania 21, marking the beginning of the Cena era.
Throughout his career, Cena faced off against WWE’s biggest names, including Triple H, Shawn Michaels, The Undertaker, Kurt Angle, Brock Lesnar, Randy Orton, and Edge. In 2012, Cena battled Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson in a highly anticipated match at WrestleMania 28, which was followed by a rematch at the next WrestleMania.
Despite moving to a part-time schedule six years ago, Cena remained active in WWE. In 2021, he returned to feud with Roman Reigns, culminating in a match at SummerSlam. Last year, Cena embarked on a farewell tour, appearing on Smackdown for seven consecutive weeks and participating in various matches, including a tag-team match with Seth Rollins and a special referee role.
Post-retirement, Cena is expected to transition into a full-time movie career. He has already made significant strides in Hollywood with roles in films such as The Peacemaker, Fast & Furious F9, Suicide Squad, Bumblebee, and Hidden Strike with Jackie Chan.
Sources By Agencies
