John Cena’s Farewell Announcement Shocks WWE Fans: Reflecting on His Controversial Journey and Impact on Wrestling Culture

Editor's note: Sebastian Perez-Navarro is a recent graduate from Eastwood High School and intends to study journalism and broadcasting in college this fall. He hopes to spend his first two years at UTEP for his basics before transferring to another school to study broadcast journalism. He has served as the athletics play-by-play broadcaster for Eastwood's Film and Broadcast program over his high school tenure. As he prepares for his fall internship with 600 ESPN El Paso, Sebastian wrote a guest column on John Cena's retirement. 

By: Sebastian Perez-Navarro

Sports fans are “tough,” or, at least we say we are.

Many of us tend to forget that sports are unpredictable. So despite what the hard nosed, thick skinned patrons say, it’s okay to every once in a while shed a tear when an icon makes their final entrance. For example, I've been crying over superstars leaving their franchise since I saw Steve leave Blue’s Clues. 

And well, WWE fans are getting the tissues ready for next year. 

On Saturday, July 6, at the Money In The Bank Premium Live Event in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, a night that promised to be full of surprises and delivered! Yet the most shocking moment wasn’t the result of a match or a cash in… it was the words of the GOAT. 

During the middle of the show WWE Hall of Famer & Toronto Native Trish Stratus entered the Scotiabank Arena to introduce none other than the most polarizing wrestler of all time: John Cena. When taking the ring, Cena announced to the crowd of over 20 thousand that 2025 will be his last year in the WWE, and that he’d retire after his Farewell Tour, which was shown prominently on the front of his bright red shirt. 

We Haven’t Always Liked Cena. 

Nowadays people LOVE John Cena, but if we go back to the 2010s, it’d be an understatement to say Cena was hated.

To be frank, he was wrestling’s top heel. 

Let’s be honest with ourselves, the biggest demo in wrestling consists of middle aged men. Obviously, WWE is now diffusing itself unto more audiences but that shift has taken place at the turn of the decade. 

Sadly for Cena, he had to endure being the face of the franchise in a time when the average audience was the age of 40.

Yes, Cena was popular, but his biggest supporters were at a time in their life where potty training was the hardest class in the curriculum of life. Those who were truly paying attention to the product decided that WWE’s biggest superhero didn’t deserve support, but hostility instead.

And, hostile they were. 

Cena debuted in 2002 on “Smackdown”, facing Olympic Gold Medalist Kurt Angle in an open challenge. Four years later he walked into “ECW One Night Stand” to face company loyalist Rob Van Dam for the WWE Championship with his face down, and title up to avoid further aggravating a crowd who was already providing him with obscene gestures & holding signs reading “if Cena wins, we RIOT.”

You’d think wrestling fans would feel a little bad for their behavior right? Not at all. At the end of the day, we're combat sports fans. If there’s one thing we lack, it's morality.  Hatred for Cena persisted for years on end. It became a tradition to hear the crowd chant “Cena Sucks” every Monday. 

Wait… we like him now? 

Now nothing lasts forever, and 2015 marked a turning point in Cena’s career. Younger superstars arose and, frankly, Cena saw a dip in his ability. He was no longer the main event guy, instead Cena was now working in the mid card as United States Champion. 

All of a sudden Monday’s had a new tradition. No longer would the crowd chant “Cena Sucks." Rather, they’d root for the superstar while watching his coveted title be put on the line week after week during Cena’s infamous US Title Open Challenges. The negativity over Cena burying talent was gone, because now, Cena was putting over new wrestlers left and right such as Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, Dean Ambrose, and even Stardust– now known as the “American Nightmare” Cody Rhodes.  

Thanks to Cena, these wrestlers now had a slingshot to launch themselves into formidable feuds in the WWE.

He doesn't only dish out punches. 

10 years later, Cena returns to the formula that won over the WWE universe. 

Confirming during the Money in the Bank Press Conference that his farewell tour includes him working 30-40 dates from January to December of next year. 

All hate aside, John Cena has never once turned a genuine fan away from an autograph, a picture, or a conversation, and despite being in Hollywood, Cena has always done his best to participate in the company that put him on the map. 

John Cena has a passion for wrestling that none of us can come close to. He’s had every excuse to leave the WWE in the dust, but true to his word, he’s never given up on his career. Retiring doesn't change that. Next year he’ll be 48 years old and his body can't withstand the same physical toll that wrestling requires. 

Cena leaves wrestling because of a personal understanding that performing at an impotent level only devalues the image of his passion. That ideology, alongside the work, time, and effort he puts in, is what makes him the Greatest of All time. 

So to wrestling fans worldwide, we’ve got one more year to enjoy the GOAT perform his craft. 

It doesn't matter if you're “tough,” because losing a wrestler like John Cena from the industry is like losing a piece of what makes wrestling special. 

Jimmy Duggan was wrong when he said “There’s No Crying in Baseball”, because it does not encapsulate how much sport means to people. 

John Cena’s last time in the ring is closer than we think, meaning that our time to be emotional about this is now.