John Cena on WWE retirement: "Beyond anything I've ever been capable of"

WWE Superstar John Cena recently talked about his retirement tour. The Cenation Leader will bid farewell to wrestling at the end of 2025.

John Cena is one of the greatest names to ever step inside the squared circle. This year, the 17-time World Champion gave fans what they had been wanting from him for years: a spectacular heel run. However, in his final months as a performer, Cena has now turned babyface once again.

During his recent interview with People Magazine, The Chain Gang Soldier talked about his retirement tour. Cena revealed that he evaluated the Stamford-based promotion's current program before starting his retirement tour, praising the current locker room for their incredible athleticism.

"I started to assess physically where I was and assess the current program. And the current program in the WWE is spectacular, like surgically perfect. The athleticism is far beyond anything I've ever been capable of. The talent pool is extremely deep," he said.

The 17-time World Champion reflected on his early days in wrestling, saying that he made a promise to himself to leave professional wrestling with the same excitement as he had when he first entered the business.

"And I remember being a young 20-something in Kentucky, wrestling in front of 20 people every night, crossing my fingers and hoping to get a call to come up to WWE television, and thinking that call would never come. And I kinda made a promise when I got on television and when I started gaining some notoriety that I should be as graceful exiting the business, or try to be as I was excited to enter," he added. [From 12:09 - 13:02]

Check out the interview below:

---

---

Bill Apter believes Brock Lesnar will play a role in John Cena's WWE retirement

After John Cena's match against Cody Rhodes at SummerSlam 2025, Brock Lesnar surprisingly returned to WWE television to put Cena on notice.

During Sportskeeda WrestleBinge's SummerSlam Review, Bill Apter revealed that a source within WWE stated that Cena's retirement tour could revolve around Brock Lesnar.

Apter also mentioned that their feud will not end after one singles match, which could mean that The Beast Incarnate might retire The Cenation Leader.

"From what I heard from my inside source, Cena's Retirement Tour is gonna revolve around Brock Lesnar. [So, this isn't a one and done? Brock Lesnar is back.] Oh yeah. [He looks phenomenal, he looks like he hasn't skipped a beat] Why do a one and done and just, no reason."

It remains to be seen what the Triple H-led creative team has planned for John Cena and Brock Lesnar's feud on WWE television in the coming weeks.

Please credit People Magazine and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling if you use quotes from the first half of this article.