John Cena shares a cryptic post related to Batista ahead of the WWE Royal Rumble

John Cena has shared a cryptic post related to Batista ahead of the 2025 Royal Rumble Premium Live Event. Cena has confirmed his participation in the Men's Royal Rumble Match.

Throughout his illustrious career, Cena has shared the ring with multiple top superstars, including Batista. The Animal's final storyline in the company involved his Evolution stablemates, primarily Triple H and Ric Flair. At WrestleMania 35, Batista competed in his retirement match, in a losing effort to The Game.

On Instagram, Cena shared a photo of Batista holding the WWE World Heavyweight Championship. The post was most likely shared in honor of The Animal celebrating his 59th birthday.

Check out Cena's Instagram post below:

Batista discussed John Cena's retirement tour

John Cena kicked off his retirement tour on the RAW Netflix premiere. The multi-time WWE World Champion will hang up his boots by the end of 2025.

In a recent interview with Chris Van Vliet on INSIGHT, Batista talked about his old rival's retirement tour and why he couldn't do the same. The Animal said:

"This is how we [John Cena and I] are different. I would never do this [Retirement tour]. I wouldn't. I couldn't. It would feel disingenuine to me to go around. I just couldn't. I see his point where he wants to go around and he wants to personally thank the fans. But there's something in me that I couldn't do it. It would feel uncomfortable to me. Like, accolades feel uncomfortable to me."

Cena will aim to win his third Royal Rumble Match having previously won it in 2008 and 2013. He will be joined by CM Punk, Roman Reigns, Jey Uso, LA Knight, Drew McIntyre, Seth Rollins, and Rey Mysterio, all of whom have confirmed their entries into this year's Men's Rumble.

It will be interesting to see if The Franchise Player outlasts 29 other stars and ties Stone Cold Steve Austin's record of winning three Royal Rumble matches.