John Cena will hang up his wrestling boots next year after having one last run as an in-ring competitor in WWE. The 47-year-old recently provided more details about his retirement plans.
The 16-time world champion debuted on the main roster 22 years ago. Earlier this year, Cena appeared at Money in the Bank to announce that he would retire from in-ring competition by the end of next year. Meanwhile, he confirmed his appearance at the upcoming Royal Rumble, Elimination Chamber, and WrestleMania premium live events.
While many wrestlers have previously retired before returning to the ring for one last match or even more, Cena recently killed that hope for his fans as he told the Associated Press that he would never compete again following his retirement. In the interview, the Leader of the Cenation claimed no “check-writer” could write him a check big enough to change his mind:
“It’s not like, for lack of a better term, it’s not a wrestling retirement. I’m not going away for a few years and then coming back. When I’m done in December, I’m done. And there isn’t a check-writer around who could write a check big enough to change my mind. I’ve built a great rapport with the WWE fans, love me or hate me, I think we have a trusting authentic rapport and my word isn’t, there’s no price to break that,” he said. [0:39 – 1:01]
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Who could John Cena face on his final WWE run?
Since John Cena announced his retirement plans at Money in the Bank, fans and experts have speculated about his potential opponents on his final run as an in-ring competitor. Former WWE host Matt Camp recently discussed several possible names who could share the ring with the 16-time world champion, including Randy Orton and the Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes.
On his The Wrestling Matt podcast, Camp also expressed his desire to see the Leader of the Cenation go head-to-head against the World Heavyweight Champion Gunther:
“I do wanna see a John Cena [vs.] Gunther match. I think that’s a big da*n match. I think that could be a huge match,” he said.
Although the former The Bump host pointed out that Cena should not face Roman Reigns again after they squared off at SummerSlam three years ago, he claimed they could form an unexpected tag team. It would be interesting to see who the 47-year-old legend would cross paths with on his retirement tour.
