Let me state this right up front. I am not a big fan of John Cena, the wrestler. He is okay, I guess. I actually cringe whenever anyone calls him the “greatest of all time.” Now, John Cena the person and John Cena the actor, I am a fan of. I appreciate what a positive influence and person he is. His charity work alone is phenomenal. I enjoy him in his various roles but especially as DC Comics’ The Peacemaker. I also think Cena’s actual range as an actor is underrated and underappreciated.
With that out of the way, my heart goes out to John Cena’s fans in WWE. This whole “retirement tour” has been a complete farce thus far. It all began with Cena announcing at Money in the Bank last July that he was hanging up his boots and that WrestleMania 41 would be his final appearance at the Showcase of the Immortals. His retirement tour would be held throughout 2025 with his last match being in December.
Since he made that announcement, Cena has wrestled one match and that was the Royal Rumble last month. He has appeared on the premiere of WWE on Netflix…. and that’s it. We are pretty much 60 days into this retirement tour and he has popped his head up twice. At this point, a retirement tour this is not. It is more of a retirement party in the break room right out of Severance complete with a cake from the local supermarket, a sappy Dollar Store card and shocking appearance by the vice president of the department who in one of those rare moments, besides going out for lunch, stepped out of their office during work hours and mingled with with “worker bees.”
This is all starting to seem that the entire tour is a just a way to boost the ticket sales of key, select events. You can understand why fans are becoming more and more cynical and disappointed as 2025 motors along. Cena likely isn’t coming to their hometown for any kind of intimate house show even if they might be located in a big wrestling market. That doesn’t seem to be in the cards. Fans cannot be faulted for expecting that as that is what a “tour” means to them, not a handful of scattered calendar dates over an entire year.
I know that some fans here in Toronto were taken aback when the news broke that Cena’s farewell would be at at this weekend’s Elimination Chamber event. The WWE visits Toronto on a pretty regular basis. WWE usually visit a handful of times during a calendar year. The last big wrestling retirement tour to swing our way was when Edge appeared here before jumping to AEW. My nephews Marco and Alex are massive John Cena fans and have been for years. My favorite sister-in-law, Laura, bought them Chamber tickets as a surprise. Along with all the other fans in attendance they will be saying goodbye to Cena in the Rogers Centre, which can hold 68,000+ for wrestling with 29,836, tickets distributed for Chamber as of press time and not the 19,000+ seating for wrestling at the Scotiabank Arena in which Edge said his WWE farewell. It will be a fun and unforgettable night for everyone to be sure but since the WWE scheduled that event, the moment in the Rogers Centre it won’t have the same feeling as it would have had in the Scotiabank Arena.
Years ago, I was able to cover Rush’s special concert in a local night club. I have been a fan my entire existence on this planet. They are truly the soundtrack of my life. Seeing Rush live in an arena is always an incredible experience but seeing them in that small club performing without all the lasers, lights, explosions, was a night I will not only never forget but will carry with me always.
The WWE has just announced that Cena will be in Belgium, Scotland and England for that European tour and appearing on Raw in all of those cities which has me thinking he is either winning the Elimination Chamber or some big angle involving him will occur at the event. The test of this tour will be whether he hangs around after WrestleMania. Him making big appearances right before the actual event on April 11 and 12 is a no-brainer. All the big stars come out during WrestleMania season. Some stick around. Some disappear into the ether once again.
For this tour to be rescued, for this tour to be anything other than a WWE cash grab, Cena has to beat Cody and become the Undisputed WWE Champion. He will then assuredly be in the spotlight much more. Cody has had his time in the sun. His championship story feels like it is coming to an end, and it should come to an end despite how successful he has been not only as WWE Champion but as the figurehead of the company. He has been one of the most popular, most hardest working, most approachable WWE champions of all time. He should be very proud of all he has accomplished as well as raising the profile and prestige of that championship, in a different way than Roman Reigns did. It was the change WWE needed and the right call.
If Cena wins, he can resurrect his “championship challenge” and have all the dream matches he has ever wanted. He then can then lose the title and have his big final match against Randy Orton, which would just seem to be appropriate. Cena will beat Flair’s record and end his in-ring run with the person who has shadowed him and meant so much to his entire career.
As of now, it does feel like fans are being short-changed by Cena’s retirement tour based on his future dates and how many appearances he has made thus far. He is basically a non-factor as far as current WWE angles, hype and storylines are concerned. He is a guest star when he should be a lead. He has earned that right many times over. Is the best of his tour yet to come though? Are we being a bit presumptuous and impatient? Will we be able to see him more often? Only time will tell.
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