After almost 25 years, John Cena is preparing to wrap up his legendary professional wrestling career. In an interview last week, the 16-time world champion made it clear that his time with WWE is coming to an end and he’s trying to form an “exit strategy” regarding that chapter of his life. The revelation comes just months after Cena’s last match for the company at WWE Crown Jewel where he suffered a devastating one-sided loss to Solo Sikoa.
Outside of the ring, Cena has been making waves in Hollywood over the last few years. Yesterday, he was in London for the premiere of his latest film Argylle and left no room for doubt on his WWE future in an interview with Entertainment Tonight.
“That’s not a maybe,” Cena said regarding a potential retirement from WWE. “That time is gonna come and it’s gonna come soon.”
Cena later elaborated on the reason behind his impending retirement, admitting that he doesn’t want to get to the stage where he’s there just for the sake of being there, and even laid out an exact timeframe for when he plans to hang up his wrestling boots.
“I made a promise to the consumer early on, to WWE fans, ’cause I know how tough it is to be a fan. You gotta come out of pocket — and WWE has a ton of content — it takes a lot to be a passionate fan and our fanbase is passionate and global. I never wanted to go out there just for the sake of going out there. And I’m gonna be 47 this year.
I feel great. So inside I feel great, but I know what it takes to be a WWE performer night in and night out and I don’t ever wanna just go out there and do it to do it. I wanna have the passion — the same passion as the fanbase — and I wanna give them exactly what they give me. The miles on the speedometer say, ‘Hey, that’s gotta be done before 50.'”