John Cena is retiring from the WWE after greater than 20 years.Â
On Saturday, the 47-year-old wrestler and actor introduced his retirement at a WWE “Cash within the Financial institution” occasion in Toronto, telling the gang — who booed as he shared his information — that he can be retiring on the finish of 2025. Cena made his WWE debut in 2002.
“The 2025 Royal Rumble shall be my final,” the Blockers star shared. “The 2025 Elimination Chamber shall be my final. And I am right here tonight to announce that in Las Vegas, WrestleMania 2025 would be the final I compete in.”
He continued, “Thanks a lot for letting me play in the home that you simply constructed for therefore a few years.”
In his greater than two-decade-long profession with the company, Cena has received 16 WWE championships. Whereas he’s extensively identified for his wrestling work, lately, he has branched out into TV and films, starring in Ricky Stanicky, Trip Buddies and HBO’s Peacemaker.Â
In his announcement, Cena shared that he’ll nonetheless compete in round 30 to 40 matches earlier than his retirement. His plan is to attempt to win a seventeenth title to interrupt the tie with Ric Aptitude, who received 16 belts of his personal all through the Eighties and Nineties.Â
“I’ve at all times mentioned to the viewers that WWE is my dwelling and I like it,” Cena mentioned. “Simply because I bodily really feel I am at my finish, does not imply I have to distance myself from one thing I really like.”
Cena additionally used the chance to entice any potential rivals, calling out for any worthy opponents to problem him one final time. “If you would like some, hurry up and are available get some,” he mentioned. “As a result of the final time is now.”
ET spoke with Cena again in January whereas he was selling Argylle, and he shared that he was already within the technique of planning his retirement on the time.Â
“That is not a perhaps. That point is gonna come and it is gonna come quickly,” he shared. “I made a promise to the buyer early on, to WWE followers, ‘trigger I understand how powerful it’s to be a fan. You gotta come out of pocket — and WWE has a ton of content material — it takes lots to be a passionate fan and our fanbase is passionate and world. I by no means needed to go on the market only for the sake of going on the market.”
He added, “And I am gonna be 47 this 12 months. I really feel nice. So inside I really feel nice, however I do know what it takes to be a WWE performer evening in and evening out and I do not ever wanna simply go on the market and do it to do it. I wanna have the fervour — the identical ardour because the fanbase — and I wanna give them precisely what they offer me. The miles on the speedometer say, ‘Hey, that is gotta be accomplished earlier than 50.'”
Congrats to him — though we hope he’ll fill his downtime with extra jobs like his cameos in Barbie and The Bear.Â
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