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WWE Adds TV Tapings Including John Cena’s Final Time In Major US City

By John Canton • Published Jul 18, 2025 16:50 EDT
John Cena

John Cena is set for a final appearance in a major American city.

The retirement tour of the current WWE Champion John Cena continues on SmackDown in San Antonio on July 18th as he joins his SummerSlam opponent Cody Rhodes for a contract signing.

There are under 20 dates left on Cena’s WWE retirement tour since the 17-time World Champion stated more than a year ago that his final WWE match will take place at the end of 2025.

In a press release, WWE announced that Cena’s final appearance in Chicago will take place when SmackDown returns to Allstate Arena on Friday, September 5. Cena also returns to his home state of Massachusetts when Raw takes place at the Mass Mutual Center in Springfield on Monday, September 15.

WWE announced a total of 11 Raw and SmackDown tapings in the coming months.

  • Friday Night SmackDown | September 5 @ Chicago, Illinois | Allstate Arena
  • Monday Night Raw | September 8 @ Milwaukee, Wisconsin | Fiserv Forum
  • Friday Night SmackDown | September 12 @ Norfolk, Virginia | Scope Arena
  • Monday Night Raw | September 15 @ Springfield, Massachusetts | Mass Mutual Center
  • Monday Night Raw | September 29 @ Raleigh, North Carolina | Lenovo Center
  • Friday Night SmackDown | October 3 @ Cincinnati, Ohio | Heritage Bank Center
  • Monday Night Raw | October 6 @ Dallas, Texas | American Airlines Center
  • Friday Night SmackDown | October 17 @ San Jose, California | SAP Center
  • Monday Night Raw | October 20 @ Sacramento, California | Golden 1 Center
  • Friday Night SmackDown | October 24 @ Tempe, Arizona | Mullet Arena
  • Friday Night SmackDown | November 24 @ Oklahoma City, Oklahoma | Paycom Center

John Cena Knows His Role After WWE In-Ring Career Ends

The 48-year-old John Cena recently spoke about his WWE role after retirement.

I’ll be an ambassador for the WWE as long as they’ll have me.

Regarding his final match, John Cena admits that WWE is still trying to find out where it will take place.

I’m 48. My last match will be in mid-December. We are still trying to find out a place to do it but, I said 36 dates in January. We are halfway through, and gosh, it’s been a lot of compelling TV. I don’t want to spoil it for anybody but I think we are just getting started.

There have been rumors that the final Cena match will be in Boston, Massachusetts, which is considered a hometown for the West Newbury, Massachusetts native.