John Cena hopes AJ Styles stays retired, but he is willing to carve out one exception.
Speaking to TMZ on the red carpet at the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony in Las Vegas, Cena was asked whether he believed Styles would honor his retirement. Cena used the question to address the broader responsibility he feels both men have to the fans who came out to see them wrestle for the last time, while acknowledging one specific circumstance that would make a return understandable.
“So, I’m one of those folks who will be the first wrestler to actually retire, and I hope I set the trend and he’s the second. I think it’s very important that we respect our audience and when they invest in us to see us for the last time. I think that has weight and importance. AJ’s path was a little different than mine. I know his son is also in the business. So as much as selfishly I want to say, like, you’re retired, stay retired. If he has a chance to wrestle with his son, he should take it, and I think the audience would want to see that. But hopefully, he wouldn’t say that if he didn’t feel it was time to stop,” Cena said.
Cena retired from in-ring competition on December 13 at Saturday Night’s Main Event, losing his final match to Gunther. Styles retired at the 2026 Royal Rumble after 28 years in the business. Styles was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame this weekend as part of the Class of 2026.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit TMZ with a h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
