John Cena, the most decorated wrestler in WWE history, has officially retired from professional wrestling following his final appearance at Saturday Night’s Main Event in front of over 19,000 fans at the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC.
The 17-time world champion brought his year-long retirement tour to an end with a loss to Gunther, tapping out for only the fourth time in his career and for the first time in 21 years. Cena was locked in multiple sleeper holds by the “Ring General” and, after repeatedly breaking free, eventually looked into the camera, smiled slightly and submitted.
The moment marked Cena’s first tap-out defeat since 2004, when he lost to Kurt Angle.
During the bout, Cena attempted several of his signature moves, including the Five Knuckle Shuffle and the Attitude Adjustment, but was unable to overcome Gunther’s relentless offense. After the match, Gunther exited the ring as members of the WWE locker room emerged to honour Cena.
World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk and Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes entered the ring and handed Cena their championship belts, allowing him to wear them one final time.
The crowd reacted angrily when WWE chief content officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque appeared, chanting “bullst” and “You f*ed up” in protest over the outcome of Cena’s farewell match.
A tribute video followed, featuring stars from across Cena’s career, including archival footage of former WWE chairman Vince McMahon. Cena then removed his shoes and sweatbands, leaving them in the centre of the ring before taking his bows.
As he made his way toward the entrance, Cena high-fived fans, paused for one last bow and addressed the camera.
“It’s been a pleasure serving you all these years, thank you,” he said, before exiting the arena as the broadcast faded to black.
The win marked the second retirement match Gunther has ended in 2025, having earlier defeated Bill Goldberg in his final bout.
Cena’s retirement caps a dramatic final year in WWE. He turned heel for the first time in his career at Elimination Chamber in March, later defeated Cody Rhodes at WrestleMania to break the record for the most world title reigns in WWE history, and briefly held the Undisputed WWE Championship again before losing it back to Rhodes at SummerSlam. His final title reign began after defeating Dominik Mysterio in his hometown of Boston.
