It was July of 2024 when John Cena told us that he’d end his legendary in-ring career in 2025.
17 months later, and after a record-breaking 17 WWE World title reigns (not to mention five United States,
one Intercontinental, and four Tag Team championship runs, and two Royal Rumble wins and a Money in the Bank briefcase claimed), Cena will face Gunther in his final match this weekend (Dec. 13) in Washington, D.C. at Saturday Night’s Main Event, streaming exclusively on Peacock.
We’re not sure exactly how to say goodbye to someone who’s been in the pro wrestling business for more than two decades, and at the center of the pro wrestling universe for the better part of that time. But we figured it would be good to celebrate some of what Cena’s done since demonstrating his “ruthless aggression” to Kurt Angle in June 2002 (“Yay”s without “boo”s for Cena didn’t seem right, so we’re also sharing some of our least favorite Cena things here).
So here are some of our favorite things from the Never Seen 17’s unparalleled WWE career. We encourage you to share yours as well, either in the comments below or with a post in The Feed.
WrestleMania 36’s Firefly Fun House match
Sean Rueter
I’ve written about my admiration of and love for this “match” before. Even over-excitedly in the immediate wake of it. While I realize now it was never going to lead to any lasting change for Cena or the WWE product (like another of favorite nerdy pastimes, comic books, WWE’s toys generally need to be put back where they were found when creators are done playing with them), watching it back almost six years later I still can’t believe we ever saw it in the first place.
There are other good examples of Cena’s “the deal ‘em, I play ‘em” approach to his WWE job, and especially the subversive streak we see on his weird Instagram and in a few of his Hollywood choices — the one I came closest to picking instead was playing Lance Catamaran on Southpaw Regional Wrestling. But I had to go with this one, a fever dream that acknowledged and briefly seemed to validate years of frustration with the Cena character and its booking. The late, great Bray Wyatt, Cena, and their behind-the-scenes collaborators entertainingly deconstructed/lampooned Super-Cena as Bray and The Fiend showed John what he’d sacrificed to become Vince McMahon’s golden child, which let Wyatt “beat” Cena to end “the most overhyped, overvalued, overprivileged WWE superstar in existence.”
And it included Bray calling Cena, “Johnny Large Meat”! On a WrestleMania card (the completly crowd-free pandemic one, but still)!
Getting real with Roman Reigns
Geno Mrosko
One thing that stands out to me now that we’re at the end of his run is the way so many of us used to look at things Cena would say or do and think he was trying to bury talent, or at the very least keep them down. And, hey, I wasn’t backstage, maybe some of that was true, I can’t say. But I tend to think back to certain battles with various stars through the years and I don’t know that he was ever trying to bury talent so much as reveal it.
All he was ever really doing was giving guys the opportunity to stand at his level. You can’t know if you can swim if you spend all your time on the shore. And if you aren’t even sure you can swim, you damn sure won’t be able to handle it when the sharks are circling.
I’m reminded of a 2017 back-and-forth with Roman Reigns, who was on the way to becoming the star we know and love today but was still languishing as a character he wasn’t connecting with because, well, it just wasn’t him. Cena attacked every aspect of that, but the moment that stood out most was when Reigns visibly tripped over his lines and Cena broke the fourth wall to flat out tell him “it’s called a promo, kid, if you want to be the big dog you’re gonna have to learn how to do it, so go ahead.”
You could look at that as Cena making Reigns look bad, but the lesson in there is Roman has every opportunity to make himself look good opposite a star of that stature, and it was on him to do that. He didn’t answer the call right away, but as we all know now he absolutely got there.
Today, he stands as the crown jewel of the WWE roster. He probably gets there without Cena, but segments like this absolutely went a long way to getting him where he needed to be.
Money in the Bank 2011
Cain A. Knight
I think John was at his best in front of the crowds that hated him the most, such as when he wrestled against RVD at ECW One Night Stand 2006. With that in mind, I think Cena’s career highlight is actually his performance against CM Punk in Chicago at Money in the Bank 2011. While that is typically regarded as the biggest match of Punk’s career, John worked his ass of that night and was the better worker of the two. It’s my pick for Cena’s best career match, and maybe the only one I would rate five stars, for people who care about that sort of thing.
Roughly half of You Can’t See Me (The Album)
Marcus Benjamin
Rather than look at his storied wrestling career and pick from any number of those moments, I’m venturing into uncharted waters: John Cena’s rap album. I cared not one iota about this joint in at the end of my freshman year in college and only think about it now when I need song titles for my recaps (I’m very partial to “Bad, Bad Man”). But Cena mentioning it recently made my rap spidey senses tingle. So I dug in.
Without giving a full review, the album is well-executed for the most part. Cena sounds comfortable on most of the tracks while out of his element on others. Truth is a big part of artistry. The way I never feel like I know who John Cena truly is when I peep his interviews makes even his most heartfelt moments here feel a bit hollow. I don’t always know his truth because he never sounds truly convicted when he goes deep. But when he’s talking trash or just kicking raps? I dig it. This is a nice first go round that showed promise. Unfortunately that’s a dream deferred because Christopher Smith has no time for the rappity raps anymore.
That said, these are the standout tracks I designated worthy of a “Let’s go, Cena” chant:
“The Time Is Now”
“Don’t F*** With Us”
“Flow Easy” (feat. Bumpy Knuckles)
“Right Now”
“Make It Loud”
“Keep Frontin’” (feat. Bumpy Knuckles)
“Bad, Bad Man” (feat. Bumpy Knuckles)
Returning at Royal Rumble ‘08
Kyle Decker
I love me a good surprise in wrestling. There’s little I enjoy more than being utterly floored. And I still think my most shocked I’ve been for a surprise actually belongs to John Cena return in the 2008 Royal Rumble. Because I had zero idea this was happening.
My friend and I were watching the show at my mother’s house and when #30 hit and Cena’s music played, our jaws dropped. I even expected it to be some gag such as someone dressing up as him because it seemed so impossible that he returned from his torn pec in four months, which is a generous half the time estimated.
I wasn’t even the biggest fan of Cena at that time, but that return impressed me so much that I ended up pulling for him to win the Rumble. It just shows how unreal that man was. A true Super Cena.
This return is still the bar I’ll compare surprises too. Maybe it was because being online and in the know was harder than it is now. Or maybe it was just an incredibly kept surprise. But it is the standard bearer for one of my favorite things.
Beyond the Five Moves of Doom
Claire Elizabeth
For all the years and years of “You can’t wrestle!” chants, one thing you definitely can’t say is that Cena isn’t a student of the game. The man has his Five Moves of Doom, yes, and he largely colors inside those lines, but in the nooks and crannies he’s always peppered his arsenal of moves with all kinds of wacky stuff over the years, borrowing from Japan, the indies, and beyond… all done kind of an endearingly sloppy fashion, because well… like the chants say, he can’t wrestle. (For certain values of “can’t,” at least)
My two go-to examples are his loving rendition of Mitsuharu Misawa’s Emerald Flowsion:
And his honestly kind of breathtaking Kenta Kobashi-esque diving leg drop:
Put smiles on faces
M. G0MEZ
In July 2012, WWE brought SmackDown to San Diego’s Valley View Casino Center. Randy Orton was scheduled to appear — until Randy Orton did Randy Orton things, and John Cena was named as his replacement.
In a dark match, Cena defeated Cody Rhodes and The Big Show in a handicap bout. I can’t remember who he pinned, but the moment right before the fall is what I’ll never forget:
Cena hit Big Show with an Attitude Adjustment.
Yes, pro wrestling involves cooperation, but seeing Cena hoist a 500-pound man was still incredible — especially because he didn’t have to do it. This was a dark match that, as far as I know, has never aired in any form.
Yet he did it for one reason: to send the crowd home happy.
For years, John Cena went above and beyond as the face of WWE. He took the blueprint Bruno Sammartino and Hulk Hogan created for what it meant to lead the company and elevated it — raising the bar for Roman Reigns, Cody Rhodes, and whoever comes next.
