John Cena Reveals When He's Retiring From WWE
John Cena has been branching off into television and movies for a decade now and is more associated with Hollywood than WWE these days. The star of the upcoming Argylle has done it all in the wrestling world and after more than 20 years with WWE, Cena has said he's ready to step away from wrestling in the next few years.
Speaking with Entertainment Tonight, the 46-year-old wrestling icon understands he only has a few years left in him and looking to retire in the next three years. "That's not a maybe. That time is gonna come and it's gonna come soon," Cena said.
Having been with WWE since 2001 via its then-developmental company, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), Cena made his official WWE debut in 2002 on Smackdown against Kurt Angle in a trying effort. Since then, he's become a Grand Slam champion and won both the Royal Rumble and the Money in the Bank.
"I made a promise to the consumer early on, to WWE fans, 'cause I know how tough it is to be a fan. You gotta come out of pocket--and WWE has a ton of content--it takes a lot to be a passionate fan and our fanbase is passionate and global. I never wanted to go out there just for the sake of going out there," he continued. "And I'm gonna be 47 this year. I feel great. So inside I feel great, but I know what it takes to be a WWE performer night in and night out and I don't ever wanna just go out there and do it to do it. I wanna have the passion--the same passion as the fanbase--and I wanna give them exactly what they give me. The miles on the speedometer say, 'Hey, that's gotta be done before 50.'"
Cena appeared at last year's Wrestlemania against United States Champion Austin Theory which was a match of generation vs generation with Cena losing and making sporadic appearances. Even his appearances have been less and less throughout the years due to his demand in film and TV.
"It's tough to juggle both because, you know, when you're filming Argylle, director Matthew Vaughn won't let you go do anything else because of insurance," he said jokingly. "So as long as the phone keeps ringing and we've had some good opportunities here, I'll kind of preserve that for as long as I can. But even coming back for these one-at-a-time things or short three-month periods, it takes its toll more and more and I've just had an incredibly fortunate run with my health. I feel great. I just want to continue to feel great the rest of my life."
