John Cena Pushes Back On The Idea That His WWE Retirement Came On His 'Own Terms'

WWE legend John Cena went out on his back, tapping out to GUNTHER's sleeper hold in the middle of the ring, a smile on his face, during his planned retirement match at WWE Saturday Night's Main Event in December 2025. The loss came after a year-long retirement tour, which saw Cena turn heel for the first time in decades, as well as his 17th run with a world championship.

During his recent media tour ahead of the release of "Matchbox: The Movie," Cena sat down on "Happy Sad Confused" with Josh Horowitz and spoke about his acting career. The star compared it to his WWE run, and said he's in "an occupation that's fragile," and he knows it will end. Cena said he also knows that end is beyond his control.

"If I have my own story to paint and doing it on my own terms, I'd like to do this forever," Cena said. "When I retired from WWE, everybody's like, 'Man, you're doing it on your own terms.' Bulls***. I want to do it forever. I know that it's time to go. It is within my values. I said, 'I want to do good work and I want to leave doing good work, but my own terms are to do it infinity.' I want to continue to do it. But, I gotta be realistic and look at the math and be like, 'Okay, it's time to step away."

Since retiring from WWE, Cena has become the face of the company's exclusive Club WWE brand. He also announced the "John Cena Classic," a tournament where "WWE NXT" stars will face main roster stars, rumored for December.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Happy Sad Confused" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.