World Wrestling Entertainment veteran John Cena has announced that he will retire in 2025 after an influential 20-year career.
Cena revealed the news to the crowd from the ring during Saturday’s Money in the Bank event at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
“Tonight I officially announce my retirement from WWE,” said the wrestler-turned-actor, who has held the WWE championship belt 16 times.
The crowd then chanted “No!” and gave thumbs down gestures before settling down.
Cena went on to say that he’s been with WWE for 20 years and has seen it all, and while WWE is doing better than it’s ever been, he reflected on the bad times when “nobody wanted to be your friend and only the most dedicated fans were on your side.”
He thanked Canadian fans for “always being there” and helping build WWE into what it is today, and also noted that WWE Raw will be coming to Netflix in 2025 through an exclusive partnership — a first in history.
Cena said he would be involved with the Netflix project in some capacity and that next year’s WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas would be his final appearance with WWE. Cena again thanked the fans, who clapped and chanted “Thank you, Cena!”
At a press conference after the event, TMZCena said the decision to retire was not his own, but that he had expressed the idea to WWE executives, adding that WWE had begun the discussions with the idea that “if I were to retire, this would be a great time.”
Cena didn’t go into specifics, but left the door open for a return to WWE in the future.
He was also asked about former WWE CEO Vince McMahon, who has been accused of sex trafficking and sexual assault, but refused to answer any questions on that subject.
