John Cena to retire from WWE in 2025

John Cena has been more movie and television star than a wrestling star in the past few years. Next year he is making it official. Cena announced on Sunday that he will be retiring from the ring in 2025.

He made an appearance during the “Monday in the Bank” event in Toronto, saying that the “Royal Rumble,” “Elimination Chamber and “Wrestle Mania” will be his last shows, The Athletic reported.

He told the crowd “Thank you so much for letting me play in the house that you built for so many years,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Overall he plans to have about 30 to 40 bouts during all of 2025.

“I approached the WWE with this idea, and they initiated the talks that this would be a great span of time if we were ever going to do it,” Cena said, according to The Athletic. “The business is at incredible heights of popularity and awareness. There are some big things going on, especially the Netflix debut (in January 2025), and I take pride in being an individual WWE can call up and say, ‘Remember that idea? The time is now.’ Let’s do something that can bring all of us together. They’ll write the stories, and we’ll execute the best we can.”

Cena made his first WWE appearance in 2000 and has been part of the company since 2001. The 47-year-old entertainer has 16 world WWE championships, tied with Ric Flair.

The announcement shouldn’t be a surprise for fans as he had said he didn’t want to wrestle past the age of 50, and despite several wrestlers retiring and coming back, he said he will not be in wrestling shape after he’s done, and won’t appear as a guest referee.

Cena has made an acting name for himself in “The Suicide Squad,” “Bumblebee” and “Peacemaker.” He has six upcoming projects, according to IMDB. He is also hosting Discovery’s “Shark Week” this year.

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