One of the major highlights of the WWE Raw Netflix premiere was the appearance of John Cena who kicked off his retirement tour in style. It was announced by the former franchise player of the company that will roll through Indianapolis, Indiana, next month at the WWE Royal Rumble 2025 premium live event which also marks his in-ring return for the first time since the fall of 2023.
During his appearance on Raw, John Cena addressed rumors of who he’s going to face in his final match in the WWE – Drew McIntyre, CM Punk, Logan Paul, Gunther, and some more options on the table. Since fans were also wondering if he’d eventually become a record-breaking 17-time World Champion which brought out the notion of entering Royal Rumble 2025.
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Mentioning the audience that he hasn’t won a televised singles match in 2,446 days, John Cena finally confirmed his entry at the men’s Royal Rumble 2025 matchup for one last shot at the main event of Wrestlemania 41,
“I’m not just going to the Royal Rumble; I’m going to WIN the Royal Rumble! You want some? Come get some!”
John Cena’s full history at Royal Rumble matches
That being said, Royal Rumble 2025 will mark John Cena’s overall 9th appearance in the annual 30-superstar melee for a championship shot at Wrestlemania. Here’s how his earlier outings have gone by,
| Royal Rumble | Entry Number | Time Spent | Finishing position | Elimination | Eliminated by | Remarks from match |
| 2003 | 18 | 19:42 | 9th | 0 | The Undertaker | Rob Van Dam attacked him during entry and cut his time short |
| 2004 | 28 | 7:34 | 6th | 1 | Big Show | Not much of a memorable outing ended by the World’s Largest Athlete |
| 2005 | 25 | 15:28 | 2nd | 4 | Batista | Both Batista and John Cena eliminated each other, leading to a restart |
| 2008 | 30 | 8:29 | Winner | 4 | – | Eliminated Triple H for the win after a miraculous return from injury |
| 2010 | 19 | 22:12 | 2nd | 2 | Edge | Edge returned from an injury for a dramatic win at the expense of John Cena |
| 2011 | 22 | 34:17 | 5th | 7 | The Miz | One of the finest performances ended after The Miz toppled him over the top rope from out of the ring |
| 2013 | 19 | 26:10 | Winner | 4 | – | Winning his second Rumble by eliminating Ryback, main-event against The Rock was confirmed |
| 2018 | 20 | 28:33 | 3rd | 3 | Shinsuke Nakamura | Competing as a part-timer, the eventual winner, Nakamura eliminated him |
| 2025 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
John Cena’s career highlights from Royal Rumble
Total Entries: 8
Wins: 2 (2008, 2013)
Cumulative Time Spent: 2 hours, 42 minutes, 25 seconds
Eliminations: 25
Best Performance: Winner (2008, 2013)
Worst Performance: 9th (2003)
Shortest Rumble Stay: 7 minutes, 34 seconds (2004)
Interesting stats from John Cena’s Royal Rumble appearances
Most number of eliminations: John Cena holds a record of 7 eliminations in the 2011 Royal Rumble, his best performance in a Men’s Rumble. On another interesting note, he was eliminated by then WWE Champion, The Miz who never participated in the match in the first place.
Memorable Eliminations: John Cena elite WWE performers at Royal Rumble like Kane and multi-time winners like Triple H, Batista, and Edge.
Consistency: The average finish for the sixteen-time champion remains within the top four with an average stay of 20 minutes, and 18 seconds (info collected by AllRumbleStats)
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