John Cena was lucky to have a long career as a professional wrestler, but he officially retired from in-ring competition when he was defeated by Gunther at Saturday Night’s Main Event in December of 2025. It seems that Cena’s career is over for good, but there are many fans who are hoping he could change his mind and return to the ring someday.
During a recent interview with US Weekly, John Cena was asked how realistic the possibility of a return to the ring would be for him, and the 17 time champion indicated that it would take a lot of money to make it happen.
“I hate speaking in absolutes … “Never” is a strong word. It would be financial suicide for someone to court me in a position where I would have another match, and I truly mean that. So if you’re in the business of torching currency, that’s the only way to get me back in the ring.”
John Cena also shared his thoughts on the John Cena Classic when he added, “Aside from that, the reason “one more match” resonated so well for me, first of all, I got to express to the fans of how fulfilled I felt when I retired. Second of all, the interest of an audience being like, “We want to see you again!” gets me excited for the new idea of the John Cena Classic. We can do this again. I’ll be there. It’ll be fan-forward and fan-first. I won’t be so focused on, “Man, this match means everything to me. I’ve got to make sure I give all I have when the music plays and I’m under the lights.” I get to watch other performers, so I can kind of be the ambassador for the event, and I can get out there and meet with people that matter most in my life, the fans. I really can’t wait for this thing to find its legs, for us to get a city and a date and move forward. And I can’t wait for it to happen. So when I hear “one more match,” I hear [that] there’s still interest, the heart still beats. I’m trying to think in my head, How can we gear this to where I can be there, be active and be included but allow others to do the thing I can no longer do. I hope we have it with the John Cena Classic.”
According to John Cena the John Cena Classic is still a work in progress, but he indicated it will be “WWE’s All Star game.” As of this writing WWE has yet to announce details regarding where, or when the John Cena Classic will take place.