John Cena is not playing around with this retirement thing, and apparently, anyone trying to drag him back into a WWE ring better have Elon Musk money.
Cena already got people talking earlier this month when he said it would be “financial suicide” for someone to try getting him to wrestle another match. Now, during an appearance at SpaceCon San Antonio, the 16-time World Champion gave fans a little more meat on the bone.
During a fan Q&A, a young fan named Jaden from San Antonio asked Cena the question a lot of WWE fans are still wondering. Was he ever going to come back Cena did not dance around it.
“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.”
That got the laugh, but Cena was not just working the room. He followed it up with a serious explanation, making it clear that his retirement is not just about protecting his body after more than two decades in WWE. Cena pointed out that fans spent their hard-earned money on tickets, shirts, championships, and special “Last Time is Now” merchandise because they believed they were seeing him for the final time.
“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 then reflected on his long history performing in San Antonio, saying the city has been part of his WWE journey through different arena names, different buildings, and a whole lot of memories.
“And the memories that we all share from that event are really special cuz I’ve been going over there, man. At AT&T Center, uh RBC Center, whatever it’s been called. I’ve been through 10 name changes. I’ve been to two buildings over there. We’ve had a lot of fun. So, to round everybody up for one last time was really special.”
Then Cena made the biggest point of all. He gave WWE fans his word, and he does not want to cash that in for one more payday, one more pop, or one more headline.
“And a lot of it has to do with my health. But a lot more of it has to do with my integrity. And I told everybody that this last year would be my last year. And I meant it. I uh I’m not exactly perfect. I have good matches and bad matches, but I try to lead with honesty. And I know my strongest currency is my word. So that’s a lot of the reason I want to stay retired to because I gave everybody in here my word.”
That is about as clear as it gets. Cena is leaving the door cracked open only in the most ridiculous, billionaire-sized way possible, but his real answer is that he wants his retirement to actually mean something. WWE fans have seen plenty of “final matches” turn into temporary vacations, but Cena seems determined not to make his farewell feel like a con job.
Do you think John Cena should stay retired for good, or would one more WWE match still be worth it if the right story came along? Let us know what you think in the comments.
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