John Cena isn’t quite ready to say goodbye to wrestling just yet — but he does have plans to do so soon.
“That’s not a maybe,” Cena, 46, told Entertainment Tonight on Tuesday, January 23. “That time is gonna come and it’s gonna come soon.”
Cena made his debut in the WWE in 2002. He noted he’s “had at least one match every year” since and doesn’t “intend to miss a year” for “as long as [he] can perform.”
“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,” he said. “I never wanted to go out there just for the sake of going out there.”
Cena said he feels “great” ahead of turning 47.
“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,” he said. “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 made his transition to acting during a break from wrestling in 2006. He’s since starred in several notable films, including Trainwreck, Blockers and the upcoming 2024 movie Argylle.
“It’s tough to juggle both because, you know, when you’re filming Argylle, Matthew [Vaughn] won’t let you go do anything else because of insurance,” he joked of the film’s director. “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.”
As for whether Cena will be making an appearance at the upcoming WrestleMania event in April, he hinted at the possibility.
“I don’t know if I’ll be free that weekend, but it is a weekend and movies don’t shoot on the weekends,” he quipped. “But when I say I’m done — in WWE, they say never say never and a lot of people retire and come back — I’m just being honest with myself. There’s such a great new generation now as well. It’s time to pass the electric energy on to the folks that can be there every day.”
