The upcoming return of John Cena on WWE programming will also kick off the last hurrah for him when it comes to in-ring competition. As announced on the 2024 Money in the Bank premium live event last July, the WWE Legend will be out for one final run inside the squared circle that will be ongoing for an entire year starting from either the last week of 2024 or the very beginning of 2025.
As such, 2025 is being advertised as John Cena’s last year in a WWE ring and the company intends to heavily capitalize on the marquee name’s presence in special shows where he would consecutively be making one final appearance. Reports now affirm that his retirement tour will extend from January to December of 2025 and it will further feature a series of “lasts” for the future Hall of Famer.
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For the time being, WWE confirmed three dates for John Cena, that’s the first Monday Night Raw of the year on January 6 to be steaming on Netflix, Royal Rumble on February 1, and Elimination Chamber on March 1. These dates might suggest a once-a-month schedule to the fans but Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Radio reports that many more appearances for the former franchise player will be added.
“He’s gonna be working most of the big shows this [upcoming] year,” Meltzer said. “I think it’s 35, 40 dates. … Probably he’s going to run 35 different markets during 2025. And every one — or every one maybe except for New York, maybe he’ll do multiple shows — but most of those 35 are going to be ‘John Cena’s last time in…’ San Francisco, Seattle, Dallas, whatever. That’s what the year is going to be — a whole bunch of farewells.”
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WWE to capitalize on John Cena’s star power for months to follow
Given John Cena to be in attendance, Meltzer predicts that WWE will be drawing even more after experiencing one of its best fiscal periods in company history. He mentioned that Elimination Chamber, normally a second-tier PLE is being held at the 41,000-seat Rogers Centre, this year as WWE is capitalizing on the former champion’s value, doubling the capacity.
While nothing is confirmed regarding John Cena’s return on WWE TV, it appears that he will be there during WWE’s next visit to the Madison Square Garden Arena in New York on December 26 for a live event. His TV return should most likely be reserved for WWE Raw’s Netflix premiere on January 6 in Los Angeles.
