The WWE hosted its Money in the Bank event last weekend. During an eventful show, John Cena came out and mournfully announced his 2025 retirement. It was a whole thing.
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Many publications, I imagine, will say, "Oh, we'll be so sad to see Cena finally hang it up after a long, storied career." And that's true -- you couldn't have found a bigger Cena detractor than me from around 2005 to the late 2010s when Cena started slowing down and focusing on Hollywood. "Big Match John," "We've Cena Nuff," "Superman," Cena's been one of the WWE's most divisive stars in the company's history.
Why? I don't have the word count to properly articulate that for those of you who might not know the legend of John Cena. But, as an abridgement of sorts: He won. A lot. He's a 16-time world champion. At that time, one could argue that Cena blocked many interesting storylines and angles where losing certain crucial matches would've been more interesting and compelling.
But he mostly always triumphed, and he often did it with a cheesy smile. Which I, and many others, detested for the longest time. But the guy grows on you, especially when he was having incredible matches and feuds during the late 2010s. He became more human -- he was able to thrive based on what he'd built rather than needing a title someone else might've benefited more from holding. Going back to his upcoming retirement... I just don't see it.
John Cena Announced His 2025 WWE Retirement But I'm Not Fully Convinced
Do you know how many wrestlers had a big "retirement" angle? The first one that comes to mind is Ric Flair. He had this emotional, final match with Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania 24. "I'm sorry. I love you," is still one of the most devastating quotes and moments in wrestling history to this day. Flair was forced to retire, and everyone was rightfully sad about it.
Only for Flair to wind up in TNA (another wrestling promotion) less than two years later. Wrestling again. Wrestlers say they're retiring all the time, then proceed to have multiple matches down the road anyway because it's who they are!
Plus, you could argue Cena's been "retired" for the past few years anyway with how infrequently he'd show up in the WWE. All that being said, yes, I'll inevitably be sad when it happens. Sue me!
