John Cena was at Money in the Bank in Toronto, Canada last night and announced his retirement from WWE.
However, it’s not an immediate retirement, with the 16-time champion looking to enjoy a farewell tour throughout 2025. Cena is eyeing up a record-breaking 17th world title, and has his sights set on achieving that in his final year with the company.
With WWE’s beloved Money in the Bank PLE emanating from an always loud Toronto, it played host to the inevitable yet still saddening news that John Cena’s in-ring career would be coming to an end in 2025, with the Leader of the Cenation making a surprise appearance to let the WWE Universe know of his future plans.
Money in the Bank is one of WWE’s more innovative events, with the ladder matches usually being the thing that’s on everyone’s lips come the end of the show. However, despite Drew McIntyre’s failed cash-in, this wasn’t the part that had everyone talking, with ‘The Champ’ John Cena making a surprise appearance and announcing his retirement from in-ring competition.
John Cena ‘Retires’ at Money in the Bank
He’s sticking around until the end of 2025
Initially coming across as a retirement from this moment onwards, Cena went into detail and simmered much of the Toronto disappointment by making it known that 2025 would be a retirement tour of sorts and that he planned to return to the city and to wrestle in front of the wrestling fanatics of Canada.
His appearance on the show itself was classic John Cena, taking a crowd that he had flattened and lifting them up with a promo from the heart that had everyone cheering and shouting come the end of it, but with many questions left unanswered, the former Doctor of Thuganomics took to the post-show press conference to really detail what 2025 would look like for John Cena.
John Cena’s 2025 Plans Revealed
He wants to be active from January all the way through to December
Cena made sure to note that it wouldn’t be a year free of outside commitments, with his acting career starting to take off, he needs to keep his head on a swivel and not miss any opportunities in Hollywood, but he did reveal that he is aiming to appear on 30-40 events and plans to have these be from January through to December.
He revealed that this retirement tour was an idea he came up with and is appreciative that WWE and the powers that be have been so receptive to the idea. In terms of actual wrestling, he made sure to be clear that WrestleMania 41 wouldn’t be his last in-ring appearance overall, just his last one at The Grandest Stage of Them All, something that seems to have been lost in translation.
He made it clear that he still wants to go for the record-breaking 17th title, currently being tied on 16 with Ric Flair, and noted that Royal Rumble and Money in the Bank are the two events he’s eyeing up in order to achieve that feat. Cena also mentioned that following December 2025, he will be retiring the jorts, a look truly synonymous with himself. He then mentioned how any WWE appearances post-retirement would be in a suit and tie.
The last tidbit from the press conference was how Cena made sure to let WWE know that he intends to, and more importantly, wants to, remain apart of the WWE family in some aspect. What that might entail is unknown, be it mentoring and helping out young talent backstage, or in NXT from time to time, it’s yet to be seen, but he made it clear that he would never want to distance himself from something he loves.
With it now finally announced, all the WWE Universe can do is sit back and enjoy the rollercoaster that will be 2025 and see if Cena can finally make history by becoming a 17-time WWE champion.
