John Cena Talks WWE Retirement: 'I'm Trying to Figure out When to Close That Chapter'

Legendary WWE Superstar John Cena admitted Wednesday that retirement from pro wrestling has been on his mind recently.

In an interview with Sean Neumann of People, Cena suggested that his days as an in-ring performer are nearly numbered, saying: "I turned 47 this past year and I don't have much time left in the WWE."

Cena went on to note that he is currently coming up with a plan for when and how he will exit the wrestling industry:

"You know, I'm trying to figure out when to close that chapter.

"I wouldn't be who I am—professionally or personally—without the WWE, and I promised myself that I would never simply just be there for my own sake. Every time I perform, I want to give my all to the audience. And I've got to admit when I hit the 45 mark, I had to begin to try to form an exit strategy and I'm trying to work on that currently."

Cena was the unquestioned face of WWE for over a decade, headlining countless events and becoming a 16-time world champion, which is tied with Ric Flair for the most in pro wrestling history.

However, in more recent years, Cena has primarily been focused on his burgeoning Hollywood acting career, which has caused WWE to take a backseat.

Even so, Cena has continued to show up in WWE from time to time and has made sure to have at least one match every year.

Cena wrestled only twice in 2019, once in 2020 and once in 2022, but he had a more sustained run this past fall.

After losing to Austin Theory at WrestleMania 39 back in April, Cena returned to WWE in September and went on to have multiple televised matches, including a tag team win with LA Knight over Solo Sikoa and Jimmy Uso at Fastlane, and a singles loss to Sikoa at Crown Jewel.

Cena was booked to lose at Crown Jewel in fairly one-sided fashion and he has not been seen on WWE programming ever since, which calls into question what WWE has planned for him moving forward.

Given Cena's status as an all-time great, WWE will unquestionably be happy for him to make sporadic appearances for as long as he wants, but as he approaches 50 years of age, Cena is clearly thinking more and more about his pro wrestling mortality.

Cena still has plenty he can give to WWE and the wrestling business as a whole, but since he is cognizant of not overstaying his welcome, it is fair to wonder if Cena already has a retirement date or age in mind.

Although the likes of Roman Reigns, Cody Rhodes and Seth Rollins have taken over as the faces of WWE and thrived in that role, it will be the end of a memorable and successful era whenever Cena decides to walk away for good.

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