This past Friday night, John Cena made his final WWE SmackDown appearance in front of a thunderous Chicago crowd. After the blue brand appearances, there are only seven dates left on his retirement tour. There has been a lot of hype around the final match of the franchise player of the WWE, which has already been confirmed to take place in December.
While WWE has to officially confirm John Cena’s retirement match, it’s scheduled to take place on a December 13 edition of Saturday Night’s Main Event. The previous updates noted that Boston will be the host city of this Peacock special show, but that won’t be the case.
For months, the rumors were that the 17-time World Champion’s retirement match would take place in Boston, Massachusetts, since he grew up in West New Burry in the same state. Even his father confirmed this in an interview. However, his final appearance is scheduled on December 13th, which will be a Saturday Night’s Main Event show in Washington, DC.
Boston loses John Cena’s retirement match for a low-bidding price
In a follow-up, The Wrestling Observer reports that WWE wanted more money than Boston was offering for the final 2025 edition of Saturday Night’s Main Event, and this is why Washington, D.C. will get the honor of hosting John Cena’s final match. The company sought a sum comparable to what they received from New Jersey for SummerSlam, and the price range was reportedly similar for multiple shows during the weekend of December 12 to 15.
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That being said, the low-bidding price turns out to be the reason that Boston missed the opportunity to culminate in John Cena’s retirement tour, that’s been ongoing since January 2025 for a total of 36 dates. While Washington is gearing up for a historic night in December, Boston will host a regular episode of Monday Night Raw on November 10, and the Cenation Leader will appear on that night.
As of this writing, John Cena’s next appearance in the WWE is scheduled for Raw in Springfield on September 15th, which will be the go-home episode of the red brand for Wrestlepalooza. Then, at the first-ever WWE – ESPN joint venture premium live event, he will face Brock Lesnar in a match now being promoted as the final contest between the two bitter rivals.