John Cena’s retirement year from WWE has been a massive let-down, but this fantasy booking of his final five appearances would save his last run…
In July 2024, Cena made the shocking announcement that he would retire from wrestling in 2025, with it subsequently confirmed that he would be departing in groundbreaking fashion.
Cena made enough room in his hectic acting schedule to pencil in 36 dates from January 2025 to December 2025 as his final run as an active competitor, marking the closing chapter of a hall-of-fame-worthy career.
WWE and Cena have fit a lot into the first 31 dates, though it is largely accepted that his retirement year has been a massive failure.
There have been positives, including his earth-shattering heel turn at Elimination Chamber, his rematch vs Cody Rhodes at SummerSlam, his final match vs CM Punk and United States title open challenge vs Sami Zayn, but there have been far more negatives.
Aside from the heel turn itself, the long-awaited run of Cena as a bad guy was a huge missed opportunity amid lazy booking and poor matches, while it also had no payoff and lacked a satisfying moment to spark his inevitable return to being a face.
The moments of fan service (CM Punk, Zayn and Randy Orton bouts) have been weighed down by pointless matches vs Logan Paul and, most recently, with Brock Lesnar.
So at the moment, Cena’s final run has left a bitter taste in the mouth. WWE could have done so much more with the time they had to map out a satisfying conclusion, but his retirement tour could at least end on a high note if Triple H and the other writers follow this path…
Crown Jewel: Perth, Australia – Oct. 11
Thankfully, WWE has already started to right the wrongs of the badly-received squash match against Brock Lesnar.
With Cena gradually ticking off final matches against historic rivals this year, it would be remiss not to have AJ Styles on his list of last opponents following their fantastic rivalry and classic matches between 2016 and 2017.
However, it looked for a while that AJ Styles would not get his moment against Cena, who instead paid tribute to his former foe by using his Styles Clash move in a recent match. Still, common sense has prevailed as this match is set for WWE’s next Premium Live Event amid overwhelming backing from fans.
This gives Cena a great opportunity to return to form against a game opponent following the match that no one wanted vs Lesnar, with the legend showing in his most recent encounter vs Rhodes that he can still go in the ring when given the right dance partner.
The same can certainly be said for Styles, even though he is also nearing retirement, and the pair are known to have great chemistry in the ring, so they should mesh beautifully to put on one of Cena’s best matches in this run.
Their encounter should be filled with call-backs to their previous clashes, including a ‘beat up John Cena’ barb or two, with Cena ultimately getting a fan-pleasing victory via an avalance AA. After the ball, the two rivals shake hands and hug it out in the ring before going their separate ways one last time…
Raw: Boston – Nov. 10
A month later, Cena has his final appearance in his home state of Boston, Massachusetts. This should really be the location of his final date, though money talks and WWE are nothing if not glutinous for dollars, so Washington D.C. it is…
In Boston, Cena’s music hits to start the show and he comes up to lap up the adoration of the home crowd before issuing a challenge to one of the best young talents in WWE today, ‘Dirty’ Dominik Mysterio.
Mysterio is fresh off retaining his Intercontinental Championship against Rusev by nefarious means, a la Eddie Guerrero, without the help of his fellow Judgement Day members and to a huge ovation from the crowd. In the weeks leading up to Cena’s callout, tensions in the faction have been continuing to boil, and a face turn for Rey Mysterio’s son is gathering steam amid a building groundswell of popularity.
Each member of the Judgement Day comes out and Mysterio is advised against taking the match, though the pumped-up champion ignores their discouraging words as he marches to the ring to confront Cena, who has a wry smile on his face, to accept the match, albeit without putting his title on the line.
Cena and Mysterio have a back-and-forth battle, and the crowd gradually warms to Dominik as he shows great heart to stay in the right, even kicking out of a couple of AAs from Cena.
Ultimately, Cena ekes out another victory to set up a bigger match on next week’s Raw, but he contributes to the growing stardom of Mysterio. He shows respect to his opportunity after the final bell and later exits the Judgement Day to head out on his own path as a valiant babyface to follow in his father’s footsteps.
Raw: New York City – Nov. 17
Then there is the not-so-small matter of WWE Raw at Madison Square Garden, which allows Cena to have a match against another of his wrestling “soulmates”…
The Vision (World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins, Bron Breakker, Bronson Reed and Paul Heyman) head to the ring to gloat to the crowd, though they are interrupted by Cena.
Cena pokes fun at each member of the faction before turning to Rollins to reflect on their storied past and challenge him to a match for his World Heavyweight Championship, which is granted following further prodding to make the title holder lose his nerve.
This is another great showcase as a younger Rollins helps Cena put on a great match as the crowd laps up each twist and turn.
In the closing stretch, the challenger looks to have Rollins beat with an AA, though the champion desperately rolls out of the ring to avoid a count. Cena heads outside to grab him, but while the referee is distracted by Heyman at the other side of the ring, Breakker strikes with a vicious spear to leave Cena broken on the outside.
This great equaliser gives Rollins the time to recover and finish Cena off with a stomp for the one, two, three. After the bell, The Vision continue the beat down, but CM Punk sprints down to make the save, thus laying the groundwork for War Games at Survivor Series…
Survivor Series: San Diego – Nov. 29
In Cena’s absence in the resulting weeks, Punk is assisted by Roman Reigns and Cody Rhodes in brawls with The Vision to continue their long-term beef, with the faction challenged to a four vs four War Games match at Survivor Series, with Cena joining the babyface team of superstars.
The fourth teammate for The Vision remains a mystery until the night of Survivor Series, when it is revealed that Heyman has brokered a deal to have Lesnar partner with Rollins and Co.
Lesnar is clear that he is doing this for Heyman only, but his inclusion makes this the most star-studded War Games match ever.
As ever with this match stipulation, chaos ensues from the opening bell, with bodies everywhere as the non-stop action leads to the introduction of Cena and Lesnar as the last entrants from either side.
Lesnar uses his brute power to lay waste to his opponents with F5 after F5, and it looks for all of the world that the babyface team have no road back into the contest, though the tides turn once it becomes clear that ‘The Beast’ and Rollins actually cannot co-exist, with the World Heavyweight Champion laid out with an F5.
While this argument was going on, all four of the babyfaces had time to recover and each hit Lesnar with their finishing moves, culminating with Cena’s AA to take down the Beast and earn the victory.
Saturday Night’s Main Event: Washington, D.C. – Dec. 13
With Cena having no TV appearance between Survivor Series and Saturday Night’s Main Event, WWE uses social media to build his final match, which is against Bron Breakker.
Breakker is a WrestleMania main eventer in-waiting, with the purpose of The Vision being to propel him to that level, and a statement win over Cena in the legend’s final match would be a significant boost.
Breakker has the best spear in wrestling, and after he cost Cena the World Heavyweight Championship on Raw, he could strike again on a film set (real or otherwise) to lay out the departing superstar in a viral moment and set up their match at Saturday Night’s Main Event.
On the night, Cena enters to a huge ovation and is visibly emotional during his final entrance, but there is also a feeling of trepidation as he locks eyes with a Breakker.
In my head, this match is pretty one-sided, though Cena gets in more offence than he managed against Lesnar at Wrestlepalooza.
Cena has flurries of offence while outsmarting his younger opponent, but as soon as it appears that an unlikely victory is in sight, he is struck down by a brutal blow from Breakker.
After a while, Cena has no fight left in him as he is ripped in two via a savage spear to leave him a hurt and tired man on the mat as Breakker makes the pin and gets the three count.
Post-match, Cena sells his battle wounds as he takes a while to return to his feet. He then makes a point of giving Breakker his flowers, raising the victor’s hand en route to him dethroning Rollins as a Batista-esque babyface in 2026.
Cena, meanwhile, retires after having final and worthwhile interactions with some of his greatest rivals. But, most importantly, he passes the torch over to two of WWE’s next biggest stars, Mysterio and Breakker.
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