Wrestling legend John Cena dropped an atomic bombshell on the WWE Universe. During last Saturday’s WWE Money in the Bank 2024 premium live event, the former WWE Champion revealed that 2025 will be his last year, and he will soon begin his upcoming retirement tour. Following the event, Cena revealed if he would continue working with WWE after he finally hangs it up.
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Meanwhile, the recently returned CM Punk also spoke about how much John Cena means to his wrestling career. The good news about Cena’s pending retirement is that it isn’t effective immediately. He will wrestle at Royal Rumble, Elimination Chamber, and WrestleMania next year, as well as other dates including the first-ever RAW on Netflix. You can check out a video on his retirement announcement below:
What’s Next for John Cena?
John Cena has turned into a movie star and is currently filming Peacemaker. It would make sense if after he retires he will be too busy to spend any time in WWE. At the post-Money in the Bank press conference, Cena addressed if we will still see him work with WWE after his retirement. Cena stated the following:
“Part of this business plan that I proposed and [WWE] accepted was me remaining in the WWE family in some capacity for an extended time to come. I’ve always said to the audience that the WWE is my home, and I love it, and just because I physically feel I’m at my end, doesn’t mean I need to distance myself from something I love. I have passion for this business. I still watch Money in the Bank and yell at the screen and yell at the guys for what they’re doing or what they could be doing. I feel I have some wisdom locked up here that could be of some value.”
H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription
Cena further elaborated on the details of his retirement tour. He will wrestle 30 to 40 dates over the course of 2025. His last match will not be at WrestleMania, but it will be his last WrestleMania as a wrestler. The retirement tour will run from January to December of 2025. Cena has been with the WWE since 2000 when he was part of OVW. He made his SmackDown debut in 2002 against Kurt Angle. Since then he has done everything there is to do in WWE.
John Cena is a 16-time world champion which is tied with Ric Flair for the most title reigns. He has won the Royal Rumble match twice and the Money in the Bank briefcase. He has had matches with some of the best wrestlers from the early 2000s all the way to today.
CM Punk Wants One Last Outing With John Cena
One of the big names Cena wrestled and feuded with happened to be at the post-Money in the Bank press conference as well, CM Punk. Punk talked about how their careers have been intertwined and how you can’t talk about one’s career without mentioning the other and his reaction to the announcement. Punk stated on John Cena:
“So, I text him right away and I said, ‘Don’t leave before you say hi to me.’ And he texts back, ‘Haha, have a good one tonight,’ and I immediately took that as ‘pi*s off, I’m leaving.’ I know he’s busy, he’s filming Peacemaker, so I figured he was leaving right away. I was pleasantly surprised to run into him afterwards and I told him I’ll be the guy that drags him out of retirement, this retirement that he says he’s going to adhere to, and the final one happens that’s going to be it. Yeah, 15 years, I’ll drag him out of retirement.
“Cena, I think, to my career, means a lot. I don’t think there’s many people in that rare air, where if you talk about my career, I feel like you have to talk about John, and [it] makes me feel proud that I think when you talk about John’s career, I think you have to talk about me. We’re married in that respect.”
H/T to Wrestling Inc.
Punk went on to say that he is proud of Cena and happy he gets to go out on his terms. He also mentioned that if Cena is having one last of things, then he hopes he gets to have one last match with Cena.
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This of course all depends on if Punk survives until 2025. At Money in the Bank, Punk cost Drew McIntyre his MITB cash-in opportunity and cost Seth Rollins his match at the same time. Punk has a big target on his back from two of the top Superstars in WWE. They are not going to be very forgiving of his actions on Saturday.
What do you think of John Cena’s retirement plan? Do you think he should just do the big premium live events to prevent injury or should he be on the weekly shows? Would you like to see CM Punk vs Cena one last time? Who would you like to see Cena face at WrestleMania? Let us know on social media what the most memorable moment from Cena’s career is for you.
SOURCE: Wrestling Inc., Post-Money in the Bank press conference, Wrestling Inc.
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