On July 6, 2024, in front of an audience of thousands, John Cena made one of the most monumental announcements of his career. He announced his retirement from World Wrestling Entertainment. At that moment, it didn’t feel like my 16-year-old self was watching. It felt as though I was watching through the eyes of six-year-old me – the year I had just started to watch wrestling and looking up to the larger-than-life wrestling superstar. Suddenly this performer who I had grown up with, was stepping out of the ring, and I was not okay.
Countdown to Retirement
After making his debut in 2002, John Cena went on to become one of the most profound figures to come out of the WWE. In his early career he showed part of his personality with his “Doctor of Thugonomics” rapper persona. As his career progressed, so did his presentation and personality as a wrestler. He became a positive influence within the WWE, preaching to audiences how they can achieve anything with his three pillars: Hustle, Loyalty and Respect. He influenced many to follow his phrase, “Never give up.” His appeal reached many, even crossing into realms outside of wrestling, building his large fanbase.
With such a substantial following, and a 22-year legendary legacy behind him, the spotlight was shining down on John Cena as he entered his last year as a professional wrestler.
Fans speculated what could ensue within the next year. Would Cena win one last world title to become the leading man in championship reigns? Would he win the Intercontinental Championship and be crowned as a grand slam champion? Who would he face? The possibilities were endless.
Every part of Cena’s next year would go on to be a countdown to the inevitable retirement. The clock was ticking down on his career. There was one year until John Cena was to hang up his jorts and walk out of the WWE ring.
Beginning of the End
WWE started the tour off on an unpredictable note. Going into the highly anticipated Royal Rumble in February, many fans were sure Cena was going to win and punch in his ticket to Wrestlemania. But that wasn’t the outcome. He ended up being the last person eliminated, losing to Jey Uso. Fans were let down by these results. Jey Uso, the ever-charismatic character, simply was not the level of talent the WWE universe would expect to beat John Cena.
After the loss, it was announced that Cena had a guaranteed spot in the Elimination Chamber in March. After what would go on to be one of the most memorable matches of the year for Cena, he won. What fans hadn’t expected that night was a John Cena heel turn.
Cena The Bad Guy
One of the most well known faces in the company, one of the least villainous figures in any storyline, all of a sudden became the bad guy. Sure it was always a possibility, but it was never truly expected to become a reality. Cena’s reversal, with The Rock and rapper Travis Scott on his side, set him up to face the son of the late legendary Dusty Rhodes. It didn’t seem real.
As the tour went on, his departure started to feel real. Wrestlemania came and went. Cena won his record-breaking, 17th championship after an interference from The Rock and Travis Scott that played out in Cena’s favor. The match, however, was overall lackluster, much like his next three months of appearances. It felt as if WWE put all their brainpower into setting up the first moment of his personality pivot, but not any of the moments after.
While wrapped in this heel persona, Cena faced many wrestlers from earlier in his career, one of which was CM Punk. The build up to this match actually felt like a real story, and not just a nostalgia-driven matchup of two older wrestlers. After the match with Punk, reigning Champion Cena focused his attention back onto Cody Rhodes leading into SummerSlam.
Major Change…Again
The leadup to SummerSlam brought one moment that felt almost as abrupt as his heel turn… a face turn. This sudden “good guy” shift after three months of building the dark side of Cena made little to no sense. There was no build up to it, there didn’t even seem to be a main motivator for him to do it. It was simply just, “The day John Cena came back to WWE.”
Despite being such a quick shift in character, fans looked forward to seeing the Cena they had learned to know and love over the years. At SummerSlam, Cody Rhodes was victorious, taking the WWE Championship from Cena.
After a short, dull, unwanted feud with YouTuber-turned-wrestler Logan Paul, Cena faced a past foe, Brock Lesnar. The highly advertised (and barely anticipated) match was an unshocking disappointment. Lesnar hit 16 suplexes on Cena to win the match with little to no care for putting on an entertaining match. With a highly problematic past, Lesnar was not a face that deserved to step into a WWE ring in 2025, especially against Cena in his final tour.
In October, Cena went on to face another opponent from earlier in his career, AJ Styles, at Crown Jewel. This matchup was actually anticipated and had been continuously brought up by the WWE universe for months. When the show came, the match lived up to the hype. Both wrestlers highlighted each other’s talent instead of having a squash match like Cena v. Lesnar.
The Final A-Show
December was approaching, and with it, the end of John Cena’s wrestling career. WWE announced a tournament spanning the course of a few weeks on both Monday Night Raw and Friday Night Smackdown to determine Cena’s final opponent in December. The tournament was disappointing from the start, many of the people listed weren’t part of anyone’s hopes for the closing chapter on Cena’s career. The only exciting moments from the tournament were the returns of former WWE superstars Zack Ryder and Dolph Ziggler, though neither of them progressed into the second round, once again leaving fans disappointed.
It came down to the last two competitors: LA Knight, a superstar loved by crowds, yet not a world champion, trying to prove himself as a wrestler worthy of being seen as a main eventer rather than a mid-card wrestler, or Gunther, a superstar known to be one of the most dominant forces on the roster, a former world champion, and the man to retire Goldberg. Many fans sided with LA Knight, hoping he could finally achieve his championship moment, proving he can stand amongst the biggest stars in the company, but the odds weren’t in his favor.
The Final Main Event
December 13, 2025. Saturday Night’s Main Event. John Cena versus Gunther. No stipulations, nothing but pride on the line, yet fans eagerly and anxiously awaited the match. Unfortunately, the match was one of the biggest letdowns of the whole tour. There was little to no back and forth between the wrestlers within the 24-minute match. Wrestlers are meant to highlight each other’s strengths while in the ring, and this match did nothing but make Cena look like some kind of jobber.
The match concluded and Gunther stood victorious after becoming the first man to ever make Cena tap out of a match. John Cena, the man who built a monumental 23-year career off of never giving up… had given up. And that was meant to be the last the WWE universe ever saw of him in the ring? Cena, a man who prided himself on his fanbase, had disappointed the entirety of the WWE Universe.
But the blame isn’t all on Cena. From the start of the tour, the booking was bad. So many moments of this tour felt like cashgrabs or attempts at virality, rather than memorable moments to respect and honor the legacy and career of Cena. One of the top WWE Superstars of all time was ultimately failed by the team of writers and producers who created him.
Sure, over the course of the year there were great matchups and short storylines that made it somewhat bearable to watch along the way, but those were so easily overshadowed by the many faults of the WWE, making the whole year in retrospect feel lackluster.
In the more than two decades Cena has dedicated to the company, he has built a huge legacy for himself. Even if his career ended on a sour note, there is no argument in the eye of his fans, and the eye of the little six-year-old Stanlee, that Cena has been one of the biggest stars to come out of World Wrestling Entertainment.
