John Cena’s journey through his retirement tour continues to evolve after his participation in the 2025 Men’s Royal Rumble Match. During the contest, Cena showcased his prowess by eliminating Braun Strowman, Finn Balor, and Logan Paul before being eliminated by the eventual winner, Jey Uso.
The Cenation Leader has completed two significant appearances from his scheduled 36-date farewell tour, including the historic Netflix premiere of RAW and the Royal Rumble premium live event. According to Dave Meltzer in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Cena’s WWE presence is expected to increase substantially after he completes his current film commitments, potentially becoming a near-weekly fixture on programming.
Currently, the 16-time World Champion is filming ‘Matchbox’ in Budapest, Hungary. Due to these production obligations, his next scheduled WWE appearance will not take place until the Elimination Chamber 2025 premium live event.
With 36 dates on John Cena’s WWE contract for 2025, he’ll have only done three in the first two months, leaving him with 33 in the last 43 weeks of the year
— WrestlePurists (@WrestlePurists) February 7, 2025
This means he’ll be almost a regular weekly character when he’s done with the current movie he’s filming.
– WON pic.twitter.com/NYomPBjvGw
Plans for Final Match
Sources within WWE reveal plans are taking shape for Cena’s final match, with discussions centered around a premium live event themed after the Ruthless Aggression era. During an appearance on the Dirt Sheets Wrestling Informer podcast, Billi Bhatti discussed these developments.
I even heard that the ‘Ruthless Aggression’ name was being bandied around, perhaps as a very good way to do it.
The event under consideration would align with WWE’s annual holiday tour schedule, with WWE evaluating both Madison Square Garden in New York City and TD Garden in Boston as potential venues. The target date for this historic occasion is December 27, 2025.
The concept would create a meaningful connection to Cena’s WWE debut in 2002, when he responded to Kurt Angle’s open challenge by declaring his “ruthless aggression” before confronting the Olympic gold medalist.