Grading John Cena's 2025 Retirement Tour With WWE

When it was announced that wrestling legend John Cena would walk away from full-time in-ring competition in 2025, the WWE Universe was left wondering how his retirement tour would unfold.

Wrestling fans had seen previous retirement tours for Superstars like Ric Flair, Shawn Michaels, and The Undertaker, and many hoped Cena's would be just as memorable. While Cena's long farewell had its iconic moments, it largely missed the mark.

WWE failed to build new Superstars using Cena's final matches, the booking following his heel turn was a total flop, and the lack of consistent storylines left a disconnect with long-term fans, providing the WWE Universe with a nostalgia lap instead of something more profound.

When Cena initially announced his retirement and subsequent goodbye tour, wrestling fans were genuinely excited, with events featuring the 17-time champion selling out and WWE launching a full-court press across Raw, SmackDown, social media, and the press.

Then WWE started booking it.

Failed Heel Turn

The biggest problem was Cena's failed heel turn early in his retirement tour and the lack of momentum it created for the rest of his run. The long-term storytelling associated with the turn was non-existent, as WWE Creative failed to build shocking alliances, book another betrayal, or lay out a proper redemption arc.

Even Cena himself admitted that the heel turn was a failure, saying at Fan Expo Chicago in October that, "I just know I failed. Ain't nothing wrong with that. You can learn from failure, right? I went out there and bombed. S--t happens, guys."

Another reason the heel turn failed was the abrupt abandonment of the angle and the reversion to the face version of his character, which the WWE Universe had long disliked. With a familiar, tired promo style, coupled with challengers we've seen battle Cena before, the result was a retirement tour that lacked a unifying storyline thread.

The Greatest Hits Tour

In addition to the utter failure of a heel turn, the majority of the dream matches that wrestling fans imagined when the retirement tour was announced didn't come to fruition. Instead of fighting unfamiliar foes, Cena was booked on a greatest hits tour, mainly fighting against names from his past.

Randy Orton, R-Truth, AJ Styles and Brock Lesnar were all wrestlers who didn't need a Cena bump.

Whether the poor follow-through can be blamed on injuries, departures, or misguided creative decisions, the combination of rehashing old storylines, questionable losses, and a disturbing lack of new rivalries made the farewell tour feel like a series of missed opportunities.

While Cena's retirement tour was expected to feature dream matches and occasional callbacks, it ended up being a collection of disjointed matches and moments. Instead of creating a full-circle moment that culminates in his retirement—just as AEW booked with Sting—WWE sought to create viral social media moments without regard for the content between benchmark events.

Instead of building on Cena's legacy and ending on a high note, the odd pacing and disjointed storytelling made this feel like an underwhelming send-off. Even for wrestling fans who never liked Cena, the expectations were high for the memorable moments, but they were so few and far between.

Expert Opinions

From the start of the tour during the Netflix premiere of Raw in January to his final match against Gunther at Saturday Night's Main Event, Triple H and WWE Creative failed to deliver for Cena. While Cena reportedly pitched doing over 200 dates for the tour—something he said WWE shot down—the company went with far less, leaving segments feeling thrown together and confusing.

And fans aren't the only people complaining about the tour, as Cena's own father questioned the booking following the heel turn, telling Sportskeeda, "That was a very poor move in my opinion because it was a big gamble for everyone that was involved. And to see how it started and then to see the characters who were involved no longer be present, well, the heel turn almost became non-essential."

Cena's father isn't alone, either, as WCW legend Eric Bischoff also questioned the heel turn's effectiveness on his 83 Weeks podcast, saying, "The heel turn attempt, it's like the end of the movie ended up being pretty good, but you got up and walked out mentally or emotionally during the first 15 minutes of the movie, because it just didn't make any sense."

Grading Cena's Retirement Tour

While Bischoff and many others enjoyed aspects of Cena's retirement, the heel turn doomed the tour's success, as mishandled matchups and rivalries marred it throughout. Add in a lack of cohesion between matches and the overall storyline, and the fans looking for a meaningful departure have been left disappointed.

Instead of finishing on a high note with a legacy-defining finale, Cena's retirement tour was a series of wasted moments.

Final Grade: F

For more wrestling talk, listen to Ring Rust Radio for all of the hot topics or catch the latest episode in the player above (some language NSFW).