Add as a preferred source on Google John Cena ended his in-ring WWE career in December 2025, but he’s still sharing new details about his historic farewell tour.
During this weekend’s Fanatics Fest in New York City, the 17-time world champion spoke with Justin Barrasso of Undisputed and pointed to his match against Brock Lesnar at Wrestlepalooza as the toughest of his entire career.
“I’d always say my next match was going to be my toughest, but that’s not true now that I’m retired,” said Cena. “The toughest one was from the retirement tour against Brock Lesnar. The reason I say that isn’t just because it was physically demanding–any match with Brock is physically demanding. What was tough about that one is I’ve had my butt kicked by Brock Lesnar before, and you guys loved it. In Indianapolis, I got my butt kicked by Brock Lesnar and you hated it. So that made it physically and mentally tough. It was easily the toughest match of my career.”
The match took place on Sept. 20, 2025, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis and opened the first WWE premium live event broadcast on ESPN. In just eight minutes, Lesnar hit several F-5s and beat Cena in dominant fashion, and the result drew a strongly negative reaction from the crowd.
It was the seventh and final singles match between Cena and Lesnar. With the win, the Beast Incarnate closed out the rivalry with five victories to Cena’s two.
The reaction in Indianapolis was very different from the one at SummerSlam 2014. On that night, Lesnar hit more than a dozen suplexes, won the WWE Championship, and had his destruction of Cena celebrated by the fans in a match that gave birth to the Suplex City era.
Interestingly, before Wrestlepalooza, Cena had pointed to his Firefly Fun House Match against Bray Wyatt at WrestleMania 36 as the toughest match of his career, since he considered that experience a fight against himself.
Cena wrestled his final match on Dec. 13, 2025, at Saturday Night’s Main Event, where he lost to Gunther by submission.