With John Cena’s final WWE match officially scheduled for Saturday Night’s Main Event on December 13 in Washington, D.C., Ric Flair has offered some pointed advice for the 16-time world champion: get out and don’t look back.
In a new interview, the Hall of Famer stated his hope that Cena’s immense success in Hollywood will allow him to do what many legends, including Flair himself, could not. “John is making so d–n much money in the movies right now. He doesn’t need to do anything else,” Flair said. “I hope that he’ll walk away and stay away.”
Flair’s warning comes from a place of deep personal experience, framing the wrestling business as a difficult lifestyle to leave behind. He pointed to the psychological grip of the industry, especially for someone who has been at the top for over two decades. “Wrestling is very addictive,” Flair explained. “When you’ve done it as long as John has, over 20 years, it’s hard to change your way of life.”
The “Nature Boy” is perhaps the most famous example of that very struggle. After what was billed as a definitive retirement match against Shawn Michaels at WrestleMania in March 2008, Flair was back in the ring by November 2009 and later signed a deal with TNA. He eventually had one more final match on July 31, 2022, and has remained retired since.
Beyond the cautionary advice, Flair also spoke highly of Cena on a personal level. “I can’t say enough nice things about John Cena,” he added. “He’s a wonderful person, and he is very happily married; his wife is lovely.”
Cena’s upcoming retirement follows a significant on-screen loss to a returning Brock Lesnar at Wrestlepalooza on September 20. On the Busted Open Radio podcast, WWE Hall of Famer Bully Ray argued that this decisive defeat served a specific booking purpose: to rebuild Lesnar as an unstoppable force for a future star. Ray suggested that the wrestler who eventually beats Lesnar will get a massive rub, specifically proposing a returning Gunther for that role. This speculation aligns with a September 19 report from the Wrestling Observer Newsletter which stated Gunther, who has been off programming since losing the World Heavyweight Championship at SummerSlam on August 2, is “expected back very soon.”