Guest host Trish Stratus stepped onto the Scotiabank Arena stage during the Saturday evening (July 6) show in her hometown Toronto and announced a forthcoming moment that would “change the WWE forever.” To the surprise of all watching, she introduced the 16-time world champion who ran out in his usual entrance fashion wearing a shirt that read “The Last Time Is Now” and “John Cena Farewell 2025.”
Cena wasted no time getting to brass tax and told fans that he was retiring from professional wrestling. There were audible boos in the arena and sad tweets flooded X, formerly known as Twitter. “The Franchise” went on to clarify, both in the speech and the Money In The Bank press conference, that his departure was not imminent, but rather he planned to compete throughout the WWE’s 2025 campaign.
John Cena specifically named major WWE events in 2025 such as Royal Rumble, Elimination Chamber, and Wrestlemania 41 that will take place in Las Vegas. Although he planned to make his final appearances at those specific shows, he revealed that he intends to have 30-40 appearances on WWE programming thus carrying him well beyond Wrestlemania 41 in mid-April.
Cena has been far from the major presence he once was in WWE from the mid-2000s to the mid-2010s. As his acting career continued to take off, he went from being the face of the company who worked every week to an occasional attraction. His last match was at Monday Night Raw in Philadelphia in April, where he teamed with then-World Tag Team champions R-Truth and The Miz to defeat Finn Balor, JD McDonagh, and Dominik Mysterio of The Judgment Day.
Before that, he competed at Crown Jewel 2023 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia this past November; he lost to Solo Sikoa, a member of Roman Reigns’ faction The Bloodline, convincingly. Cena got his revenge on Sikoa and Reigns at Wrestlemania XL in Philadelphia and helped Cody Rhodes win the Undisputed WWE championship from Reigns in an instant classic match that also included appearances from The Rock and The Undertaker.
John Cena’s résumé in WWE is comparable to none. He stands alongside two-time WWE Hall Of Famer Ric Flair as the winningest world champions of all time, with 16 reigns apiece. He is also a five-time United States champion, four-time Tag Team champion, two-time Royal Rumble winner, and one of the 2012 Money In The Bank winners. Cena can also boast being the only professional wrestler to have a platinum debut studio album, as his 2005 LP You Can’t See Me achieved the feat.
