Why John Cena Didn’t Retire From WWE At WrestleMania

John Cena reflected on why he didn’t choose to retire at WrestleMania.

After being the face of WWE for many years, John Cena had a retirement tour last year. The tour was full of moments, emotions, and nostalgia. Cena’s retirement match took place at Saturday Night’s Main Event in December last year from Washington, DC, where he squared off against Gunther in his last match.

It turned out to be a fitting final match for John Cena, as it was a roller coaster of emotions. The match ended in a controversial fashion, as Cena ended up surprisingly tapping out in his last match. The ending of Cena’s retirement match was met with a lot of backlash because no one expected him to tap out at the end of his career.

Many fans have also questioned why John Cena’s legendary career didn’t come to an end at WrestleMania instead of Saturday Night’s Main Event. In the latest season of WWE Unreal on Netflix, Cena addressed the question in episode two, stating that he chose a random Saturday instead of Mania due to a business standpoint:

Everybody from a critical standpoint was like, ‘I want John to retire at WrestleMania.’ Why? WrestleMania will sell out on its own. Let’s do a random Saturday night in the worst financial quarter of the company, so we can bring Q4 up because I know we got some good business,” Cena stated.

Triple H also added that Cena would want to do what’s best for business:

John will wanna do what’s best to move the business forward. Not leaving a gap, but leaving a solution, so to speak.” [H/T Sportskeeda Wrestling]

THIS DRAMATIC VISUAL OF JOHN CENA’S FINAL MOMENTS IN A WWE RING TAPPING OUT TO GUNTHER 💔 pic.twitter.com/grXz1kZVoA

— FADE (@FadeAwayMedia) July 21, 2026

John Cena on his true feelings about his retirement

In an interview earlier this year, John Cena addressed the criticism regarding him tapping out in his retirement match, stating that he had the perfect end, as it got polarizing reactions from fans, which has been the story trhoughout his career:

Thank you for being vocal enough to express how you felt because every moment can be a teachable moment. I put together, my job is to try to put together a story that I think you all enjoy. And when there’s critical opinion out there, I’m all ears.”

I guess it kind of parallels my career. I think it was a perfect end, because a whole lot of people thought it sucked, a whole lot of people thought it was special, and that’s kind of been my story for 23 years. So I thought it was perfect.”

Since his in-ring retirement, Cena has been making sporadic WWE appearances, and last appeared at Backlash 2026.