John Cena is set to hang up his boots this month, but the structure of his farewell tour was almost drastically different.
Speaking with Tom Rinaldi, Cena revealed that he realized 2025 was the right time to retire after feeling like a “part-time piece” who was only being used for opening monologues.
“I could kind of see the writing on the wall. ‘We need you to come back. We want you to open the show.’… The situations where I can come back is a lot more of a good back. I’ve been paired with new talent since 2013,” Cena said. “Finally, I just said, ‘It’s either this year or we don’t do it, and I’d like to do it.’”
Cena also confirmed that he initially pitched a grueling schedule of over 200 dates, wanting to work the heavy load he was accustomed to in his prime. However, WWE rejected the idea.
“I had this whole… I pitched “X” and specs and ‘This is what I think the projected revenue is… ‘Hey, I think this is a good business plan.’ ‘That’s not our business.’ Okay, I just torch that plan. ‘This is our business. Would you like to do this?’”
Cena eventually agreed to the 36 dates that comprised his final run.