John Cena announces plan to retire from WWE in-ring competition after WrestleMania 41 in 2025

John Cena made a surprise appearance at WWE's Money in the Bank pay-per-view on Saturday night in Toronto and dropped some major news. The 16-time world champion declared he'll be retiring from pro wrestling at WrestleMania 41 in 2025 and that he will be competing in a number of matches leading up to the two-night event.

Cena confirmed he'll be on the Netflix premiere episode of Monday Night Raw on Jan. 6 as well as the 2025 Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber pay-per-views, though he did not go into detail about what he'd be doing at those shows or who his opponents might be.

With his acting career on the rise, Cena pivoted to a part-time role with the WWE in 2018 but has competed in a number of high-profile matches in the years since. His last televised match took place on the April 8 episode of Raw when he arrived as a surprise partner for The Awesome Truth when they faced The Judgement Day in a six-man tag team match.

While he did not compete at WrestleMania XL, Cena was one of the many wrestlers to assist Cody Rhodes in defeating Roman Reigns for the undisputed WWE championship in the show's main event.

The 47-year-old stated he'll have more details on his retirement plans in during the post-show press conference following Money in the Bank.