When WWE made a whole thing about John Cena’s retirement and gave him a full blown tour, it put more of a focus on retirement as a gimmick. We’re already seeing one of his old rivals in WWE, Adam Copeland, follow in his footsteps by announcing 2027 will be his final year.
There are quite a few veteran wrestlers who are at the age where retirement is a conversation that is going to come up more frequently. Considering how it’s become such a gimmick, it’s worth asking about future plans to any one of
those wrestlers.
SHAK Wrestling did just that with Samoa Joe recently, asking what this stage of his career looks like. He’s 47-years-old and the end is much closer than the beginning:
“I mean really just putting on meaningful, fun matches for the fans. I think trying to consistently give people something to tune in for and have a good time with. Listen, you know, what my time frame is is kind of still not quite nailed down but I will say this: I want to leave as many good memories as I can while I have the opportunity. I think that’s just kind of the best way to approach things right now.”
The next meaningful fun match on his schedule: Clockwork Carnage at tonight’s (Sat., Oct. 17, 2026) AEW WrestleDream pay-per-view in Orlando, Florida. It’s just another first in a long line of them for the near 30-year vet. We should be cherishing those before we get to his one last.
Right?
