John Cena Admits WWE Fans Didn’t Necessarily Get His Retirement Tour
John Cena’s career ended with him losing his final ever match to Gunther, leaving fans everywhere shocked.
It’s been a roller coaster year for WWE icon John Cena. A career that spanned over two decades and etched him in many wrestling fans’ Mount Rushmore came to a close after a year-long retirement tour planned by WWE. He had announced at Money In The Bank 2024 that he would be retiring from in-ring action at the end of 2025.
The retirement tour saw Cena winning the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 41 in April by defeating Cody Rhodes with the help of Travis Scott. He turned heel soon after by aligning himself with Scott and The Rock in a storyline that got many viewers hyped for what was to come. However, the angle was dropped by August when, in an episode of SmackDown, The Champ apologised to the fans, saying that he had realised his mistakes in the past 5 months and was abandoned by The Rock and Travis Scott.
This left many fans confused. They felt the retirement tour didn’t have a clear direction. Cena then went on to drop the WWE Title back to Rhodes at SummerSlam, win the Intercontinental title from Dominik Mysterio, only to lose it back to him at Survivor Series. The tour culminated in him losing his final match to Gunther via tapout, essentially enraging fans across the world who were expecting a different sendoff for the Never Seen 17 star.
John Cena Speaks Openly about Thoughts On Retirement Tour
Speaking to Cody Rhodes on his “What Do You Wanna Talk About” podcast, The GOAT shared his thoughts on the retirement tour claiming that the events in the retirement tour had an inherent logic to them. He said that the tour resembled someone facing the end of their life.
“Knowing we’re in a good place and we’re going to be great going forward. ‘I gave everything, thank you for everything.’ In that one moment, that was going peacefully. The whole tour was the cycle of someone facing the end of their life. The struggles they go with. I got a raw deal. I want this one more time. This will make me happy and live forever. Then, realizing I’m a prick and went against my values.
Having a good person, someone you know and love, be like, ‘This isn’t you. Let’s do it the right way,’ which connects to our why and helps us tell a story and have a conversation with the audience. Then, moments with colleagues that I have history with.
Tributes to everyone I’ve shared the canvas with, or as many people as I could squeeze into one match before we have to take it home. New competitors, so you can pass on the wisdom and knowledge. The deal in San Diego where we ran everybody who bought a ticket to the ring and could get as many people around the element of, ‘I only have a few more matches left to call, can we run 27 people down so they can hear the noise?’ To be honored to be in there as somebody who takes the mat as sacred.
The GOAT praised his final opponent Gunther stating that he has the utmost respect for him. He added that without the inherent story, it would just be a stunt show,
I don’t care who likes or doesn’t like Gunther. I respect his core value. He’s pure and is all about this 20 x 20 box. Whether he does it my way, a wise man once said, ‘Just because it’s the way John does it doesn’t mean it’s the way it needs to be done.’ I got the utmost respect for him. That’s what the artist was thinking when painting the picture. The audience didn’t necessarily get that, and nine times out of ten, they don’t need to get it, but if you go in with no story and nothing (in your head and heart), you just do a fucking stunt show,”
H/T: Fightful.com
Also read:John Cena On WWE Retirement Tour: “I Was Desperately Trying To Fail”