Mark Henry Weighs In On John Cena's WWE Retirement Announcement

John Cena has announced his plan to hang up his boots, announcing on Saturday's WWE Money in the Bank event that 2025 will be his final year as an active wrestler, and if there's any WWE Hall of Famer who knows a thing or two about high-profile retirements, it's Mark Henry. The former World Heavyweight Champion shared his thoughts about Cena's upcoming retirement on "Busted Open Radio" recently.

"I'm glad that he's gonna get the rocking chair tour," Henry said, referring to the NBA tradition of putting a retiring ball player in a rocking chair to receive a standing ovation from the crowd. "John is one of the greats. He deserves that respect and that love and that admiration. I hope ... he takes it all in, because I made an angle about my retirement and I don't have any [trepidation] or regrets about it but I would've loved to get the rocking chair treatment ... John needs that, and I think he deserves it."

Henry notoriously announced his retirement while wearing a salmon-colored jacket in a 2013 in-ring segment on "WWE Raw," only to then reveal it was all a ruse. Fittingly, the man in the ring with him who he proceeded to brutally attack was Cena, an angle that kicked off a dominant final run for the ex-weightlifter.

2025 will mark 26 years in wrestling for Cena, who got his start in 1999 and has famously wrestled at least one match for WWE in every year since 2000. The former WWE Champion was reportedly the one to pitch the idea of a retirement tour in 2025, and WWE agreed the timing was right for Cena to have his proverbial last dance.