John Cena Makes Shocking Revelation About WWE and His Retirement Tour

When John Cena entered the ring in the middle of Money in the bank and announced that he was retiring from professional wrestling in 2025, which caught the entire WWE Universe off guard.

Some have started speculating about who should retire “The Champ”, others have celebrated his accomplishments, and still others have suggested that he could end up wrestling for AEW, although that seems nearly impossible for more than one reason.

And yet, perhaps the biggest surprise of all came during the official post-show press conference, as in his second question to the assembled media, “The Face That Runs the Place” actually made it clear that this 2025 retirement tour idea wasn’t his at all, but rather WWE’s, as they approached him about the length of this farewell tour.

“That’s a good question, and I think the answer is because it’s not up to me to decide. Again, I approached WWE with this idea, and they kind of started the discussions saying this would be a good time frame, if we were ever going to do it. My goodness, and this is not because of me, but the business is at an incredible height of popularity and notoriety, there are some really big things happening, including the Netflix debut, which is a big deal,” John Cena explained after Money in the bank.

“And I’m proud to still be an individual that WWE is there to call and say, hey, remember that idea you were talking about? We think the time is right. It really warmed my heart, not only did my thoughts resign themselves to saying, ‘Let’s do something together where we can all come together, where we can all bond and have some excitement.’ And they’ll make history, and we’ll execute it the best we can, but I’m flattered that I was asked to be a part of something like this.”

Wow, that’s shocking, right? While it’s safe to say that Cena didn’t expect to wrestle forever and was likely ready to end his career in 2025 one way or another, it’s certainly interesting to learn that WWE wanted him to make him a focal point of the year, with every move, match, and title win made all the more important as a result. While that may not have been what Cena was initially looking for, it’s safe to say that fans are happy that both parties agreed to such an expansive farewell, as almost every fan who wants to see “The Champ” one last time will be able to do so in one way or another.

John Cena reveals 2025 retirement tour plans

Speaking of John Cena’s retirement tour, before fans get too worried about a quick run through a few PLEs upon his exit, the 16-time champion has outlined his plans for 2025, which could include upwards of 40 appearances before it’s all said and done.

“Here are some details of the farewell tour. It will not end at WrestleMania (41). WrestleMania will be my last WrestleMania. But hopefully if everything goes according to plan, we will go straight from January to December. We will try to do a long list of dates. I think right now, tentatively, it’s somewhere between 30 and 40 dates because I’m still trying to juggle a lot of things that are going on. This will be the end of my in-ring farewell tour,” John Cena told reporters, via EWrestling News.

“Now, part of that business plan that I came up with and they came up with, thank you, was for me to stay in the WWE family in some capacity for an extended period of time. I’ve always told the public that WWE is my home, and I love it. Just because I feel physically exhausted doesn’t mean I have to walk away from something that I love. I have a passion for this business. I still watch Money in the Bank and I’m yelling at the screen and I’m yelling at the guys for what they’re doing or what they could do, so I feel like I still have some wisdom locked up in there that could be of some value. So I’m looking forward to finishing my time in the ring in the best way possible and being a part of the extended WWE family for a long time to come.”

After spending the better part of a decade away from the WWE Universe, with the longest stretch coming due to the SAG-AFTRA strike last fall, it appears Cena has dedicated one last year of his life to being a full-time WWE Superstar. While only time will tell how many matches he’ll wrestle during this 30-40 match run on weekly television, PLEs and special occasions, it’s safe to say that both sides had to commit to something pretty special to come to an agreement, as Cena is leaving a lot of money on the table to do this run, though WWE will likely reward him handsomely for his time and effort.