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John Cena Announces Retirement From WWE

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John Cena Announces Retirement From WWE

John Cena is retiring from the WWE after more than 20 years. 

On Saturday, the 47-year-old wrestler and actor announced his retirement at a WWE “Money in the Bank” event in Toronto, telling the crowd — who booed as he shared his news — that he would be retiring at the end of 2025. Cena made his WWE debut in 2002.

“The 2025 Royal Rumble will be my last,” the Blockers star shared. “The 2025 Elimination Chamber will be my last. And I’m here tonight to announce that in Las Vegas, WrestleMania 2025 will be the last I compete in.”

He continued, “Thank you so much for letting me play in the house that you built for so many years.”

In his more than two-decade-long career with the agency, Cena has won 16 WWE championships. While he is widely known for his wrestling work, in recent years, he has branched out into TV and movies, starring in Ricky Stanicky, Vacation Friends and HBO’s Peacemaker. 

In his announcement, Cena shared that he will still compete in around 30 to 40 matches before his retirement. His plan is to try to win a 17th title to break the tie with Ric Flair, who won 16 belts of his own throughout the 1980s and 1990s. 

“I’ve always said to the audience that WWE is my home and I love it,” Cena said. “Just because I physically feel I’m at my end, doesn’t mean I need to distance myself from something I love.”

Cena also used the opportunity to entice any potential competitors, calling out for any worthy opponents to challenge him one last time. “If you want some, hurry up and come get some,” he said. “Because the last time is now.”

John Cena announced his retirement from the WWE on Saturday – WWE/Getty Images

ET spoke with Cena back in January while he was promoting Argylle, and he shared that he was already in the process of planning his retirement at the time. 

“That’s not a maybe. That time is gonna come and it’s gonna come soon,” he shared. “I made a promise to the consumer early on, to WWE fans, ’cause I know how tough it is to be a fan. You gotta come out of pocket — and WWE has a ton of content — it takes a lot to be a passionate fan and our fanbase is passionate and global. I never wanted to go out there just for the sake of going out there.”

He added, “And I’m gonna be 47 this year. I feel great. So inside I feel great, but I know what it takes to be a WWE performer night in and night out and I don’t ever wanna just go out there and do it to do it. I wanna have the passion — the same passion as the fanbase — and I wanna give them exactly what they give me. The miles on the speedometer say, ‘Hey, that’s gotta be done before 50.'”

Congrats to him — although we hope he will fill his downtime with more jobs like his cameos in Barbie and The Bear. 

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