John Cena has opened up about the personal reasons behind his ongoing farewell tour, explaining in detail why he feels it is time to “close the chapter” on his legendary in-ring career. The 16-time world champion spoke about his change in priorities and the humility of accepting that his physical abilities are declining.
A Change in Priorities
Speaking on What’s Your Story? With Stephanie McMahon, Cena explained that for 15 years, his career was the “tip of his spear,” but now, at age 48, his priorities have shifted to his health and his wife.
“I Gotta Close The Chapter”
Cena was candid about the physical toll of a full-time WWE schedule, stating that a return to that lifestyle would “destroy” him and his relationship. He acknowledged that he has to be honest with himself about what he can still do in the ring.
“My skills are on the regress because I take less risks. I have more than myself to think about. There are goals that I want to have that don’t land on the canvas. I want to be able to move around, so I have to kind of hedge on the risks that I take, which means I’m hedged on the moves I can do, and I’m also a little bit more worn, but that comes with the humility of like, ‘oh man, okay, I’ve seen other people get late in their career and try crazy stuff, the math isn’t in your favor’… A byproduct of enjoying and embracing the lightning bolt is a lot of time on the canvas, which has been super awesome, but it’s also like time for that to be over, or I run the risk of what we talked about, are we running right? If you want to be full time in this, that’s a difficult juggling act… And am I running right? A schedule like I was doing in 2013 would destroy me right now. So this is a risk of like, why are you choosing to hanging up? You’re in shape. Life is good. You look good. You can still jump high and move fast. It will ruin me and ruin my relationship. And that’s the tip of my spear. So I gotta close the chapter.”
John Cena’s farewell tour is expected to conclude at the end of 2025. He is currently reigning as the Undisputed WWE Champion and is scheduled to defend the title against Cody Rhodes at SummerSlam.
If you use any portion of the quotes from this article, please credit What’s Your Story? with an h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription.
