Is John Cena Being Inducted Into The 2026 WWE Hall Of Fame?

In December 2025, John Cena ended his 23-year wrestling career with WWE.

At Saturday Night’s Main Event XLII, he unceremoniously tapped out to Gunther, much to the chagrin of fans in attendance and viewers worldwide.

During his time in the company, he became a 17-time World Champion, his final reign coming between WrestleMania 41 and SummerSlam, lasting 105 days.

Just over a month later, he was squashed by Brock Lesnar in a singles match at Wrestlepalooza. During the PLE, Stephanie McMahon was also revealed as the first inductee into the 2026 WWE Hall of Fame.

There have been murmurs about John Cena being bestowed with the same honor before WrestleMania 42. However, that rumor has not been put to rest.

As reported by WrestleVotes Radio on Fightful Select, there are no plans to induct Cena at the ceremony this year. Instead, it will be Stephanie McMahon headlining the event.

Stephanie’s husband and WWE Chief Content Officer, Triple H, was inducted into the Hall of Fame as a singles competitor in 2025. He was earlier inducted along with his D-Generation X stablemates in 2019.

John Cena’s Decision To Retire Was Not Impulsive

John Cena’s decision to retire from wrestling came as a shock to wrestling fans.

Nevertheless, he gave them 36 dates before disappearing into the sunset to live a life beyond the squared circle.

Speaking to Entertainment Tonight’s Denny Directo, the 48-year-old revealed that his decision to retire was made after careful consideration and took months of preparation to get it underway.

It’s something I wish I could do forever. I think the reasonable approach is to understand when it’s time to step away, and this was a process that took like 3 years. I had the idea, pitched the idea, 15 months later, we announced the tour, and then a year we had the tour.

So, I did have plenty of time to get into a space that like, okay, my in-ring performance for WWE is over. I’m happy that we did… I thought we did an incredible year of business, and certainly, the audience has talked about it, and I’m very grateful for that.