One of the most prominent figures in WWE history will be stepping out of the ring sooner rather than later.
John Cena announced at Saturday’s Money In The Bank in Toronto that he will be retiring from in-ring competition in 2025.
“Tonight I officially announce my retirement from the WWE,” Cena said in a speech on the canvas. “I hear a mixed opinion out there. A lot of questions maybe, right?”
The first question Cena addressed was his choice of location for his announcement.
“Why here?” Cena started. “I want to talk about that for a second, I want to talk about Toronto. Matter of fact, I want to talk about Canada. Matter of fact, I want to talk about Canadians. You see, I’ve been doing this awhile, I’ve been in WWE for over two decades and in that time I’ve seen incredible waves of prosperity like we got right now … and I’ve also seen tremendous hardship.
“So in all those years, one of the most important, one of the most impressive things that I learned was whether the WWE is hot, or cold, Canadians always show up … which in my mind makes this right here the perfect place to say what I got to say!”
That covers the where, but what about the when?
“But why now? Because it’s Money In The Bank!” Cena exclaimed.
The 47-year-old made his WWE debut on June 27, 2002, answering an open challenge from Kurt Angle on SmackDown.
Another one of Cena’s most notable events in his career came at Unforgiven in 2006 at Scotiabank Arena, then known as Air Canada Centre, when he took on Toronto native Edge in a highly anticipated TLC match. Cena would emerge triumphant and claim the WWE Championship belt.
On Saturday, Cena mentioned 2025’s editions of Royal Rumble, Elimination Chamber, and WrestleMania will all be his last.
Cena took a moment to share his gratitude with the crowd for all the support over the years.
“I want to say thank you,” Cena said, preceding “Thank you, Cena!” chants from the Toronto faithful.