Most of the time, when you’re watching professional wrestling, the athletes onscreen are playing characters. Oftentimes, larger-than-life extensions of who they may be off-screen, but characters nonetheless.
And then there’s John Cena.
The now 17-time World Heavyweight Champion, the man responsible for the most Make-A-Wishes granted to children ever, and today an in-demand Hollywood star, long after he swore he would never leave World Wrestling Entertainment for movies and television, always seemed like he was genuinely who he was. Not a character, but a human being tasked with carrying WWE on his shoulders time and time again over his 23-year career on the main roster.
Over his tenure at the top of the biggest wrestling company on the planet, John Cena was indeed a divisive figure. Warring chants from a live audience of “Let’s Go Cena” and “Cena Sucks” were part of the modern-day wrestling soundtrack, a war of words between audiences who, while caught up in the electric fun of watching live sports entertainment, also really meant what they were screaming. Through it all, John Cena maintained his composure and his spot, not to mention his belief that the audience is always right. They come to the shows, they pay their money, and they respond.
Throughout his career, John Cena locked up with the greatest stars of what’s called the “Ruthless Aggression” era of WWE. Headliners like CM Punk, Edge, Chris Jericho, Roman Reigns, Brock Lesnar, Batista, and Triple H were all in main events with Cena, while he and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson would topline two Wrestlemanias in a row.
Tonight, Saturday, December 13, 2025, John Cena will have his final wrestling match, the endgame of his year-long retirement tour, which saw him, for the first time in his career, turn heel. It happened in Toronto, where I was in the audience; the moment was well executed, and the crowd’s reaction was intense. The short run afterwards was much less successful, a combination of poor storytelling and an audience uninterested in booing their hero on his last run. Tonight, in his match against GUNTHER, John Cena goes in once again as a fan favourite. In wrestling history, the outgoing talent usually puts over the one who will remain in the region, giving that character the rub of defeating a legend. The expectation is that John Cena will lose tonight, giving GUNTHER bragging rights as the one to retire an icon. There’s always the possibility that John Cena will manage to squeak out a victory by the skin of his teeth and barely survive GUNTHER. Done right, the latter can still look great while the former gives the fans what they want: a final John Cena moment.
While most wrestling retirements never stick, there certainly seems to be a true air of finality to John Cena’s. Should that be the case, then here’s a tip of the hat to the man who coined the term “Hustle. Loyalty. Respect.”
We can see you.
