John Cena on His WWE Future: 'The Time to Compete in the Ring is Coming to a Close'

John Cena knows his time in a WWE ring is coming to a close.

The 16-time WWE champion appeared on the Pat McAfee Show on Monday and reiterated he plans to walk away from pro wrestling by the time he turns 50.

Cena turns 47 later this month, so this gives him a roundabout cutoff date of WrestleMania 43 for his final WWE match. Wrestling retirements being what they are, you could be forgiven if you don't take Cena at his full face value, but most wrestlers don't have his bustling career outside the ring.

In fact, Cena said he hopes his Hollywood obligations slow down a bit so he can do one final extended run in WWE:

The most logical story Cena has remaining to tell is his quest for a record 17 world championships. He's currently tied with Ric Flair for the most in WWE history, and it was once seen as a foregone conclusion that he would blaze past the Nature Boy.

Instead, Cena's movie career blew up overnight and wrestling quickly became a secondary focus. Cena has not had a title reign since 2017, and even that was an aborted 14-day stint that was seemingly only done so he could tie Flair. He's not had a meaningful run since his United States title reigns in 2015, and he's not held a world title for more than 50 days in more than a decade.

The Hollywood writers' strike last year did allow Cena to come back for a short run, but he competed in only two televised matches. Based on the sound of his comments Monday, Cena's next run will feature plenty of in-ring action—and perhaps for the final time.

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