Add as a preferred source on Google John Cena once again made it clear that his retirement from WWE in-ring competition is expected to remain intact, despite constant calls from fans for one more match.
During a recent appearance at SpaceCon San Antonio, Cena was asked by a fan about the possibility of returning to compete. The former champion jokingly responded that, given recent events, only Elon Musk could convince him.
“No. What? No. Uh Jaden, I’m going to put this in terms the room hopefully understands. Uh, I cannot speak in absolutes cuz again, I don’t control that. But I think the only person that can convince me to come back given the recent events would be Mr. Elon Musk and he’d have to give up a whole lot of his fortune to do so. So, until he does that, I think I’m going to stay retired.”
“I want to elaborate on that for one second. Um, the reason or one of the reasons I want to stay retired, uh, is far beyond my personal health. I see a lot of Last Time is Now shirts, Last Time is Now Championships, a lot of the San Antonio gear that I was lucky enough to get to make and people seem to enjoy out there tonight. Now, that was the last time folks could see me in San Antonio. So, they spent their hard-earned money to be there to make history and they bought those t-shirts with the understanding that that would be the last time.”
Cena’s comments come just days after he said it would be “financial suicide” to try to convince him to wrestle another WWE match.
However, the “Cenation Leader” made a point to explain that his decision goes beyond physical concerns. According to him, many fans bought tickets, shirts, commemorative titles, and special merchandise from the Last Time is Now tour believing they were seeing his final stop in certain cities.
Cena officially retired from in-ring competition on December 13, 2025, at Saturday Night’s Main Event in Washington, D.C., where he lost to Gunther in his final match.
Despite that, he remains connected to WWE through special appearances, as seen at WrestleMania 42 and Backlash.