John Cena’s Retirement Plans Prove It’s Hard to Step Away from the WWE Action
While many view retirement as a time to relax, WWE hero John Cena plans to spread his wings.
John Cena may be retiring from pro wrestling, but he isn’t officially breaking up with the WWE. After a long farewell tour culminating in a final match against Gunther on Dec. 13, the WWE Champion said there was too much love there to walk away completely.
“I love the WWE. I love the reach they have. I love its fans base,” he said on The Breakfast Club podcast. “So I’ll never not have wrestling in my life,”
After all, Cena prefers to stay busy—and has no plans to slow down, except to spend time with his wife Shay Shariatzadeh, whom he calls his “number one passion.”
Read on to learn what’s next for the 17-time WWE World Champion
John Cena’s Ambassadorship with the WWE
“It’s an absolute fictitious dream job, and I’m so lucky that it exists,” Cena raved of his 23-year career on the Jul. 31 podcast What’s Your Story? With Stephanie McMahon. It is something that I never knew how much I needed in my life, and still to this day, something that I can’t live without.”
Turns out, he’s keeping those embers burning with a five-year contract as an official WWE ambassador. In this new role, he’s trading in his “Attitude Adjustments” for power moves outside the ring as a mentor, helping aspiring wrestling stars find their groove.
“I have a bunch of strengths and gifts that I can pass on,” the 48-year-old told WWE’s Tom Rinaldi in a Dec. 9 interview. “Maybe ambassadorship comes with letting more people know to watch this, which was my goal in the first place. And maybe mentorship to talent I wouldn’t spend time with, where I can sit and be like, ‘Who are you really?’ How can I get the rapping moment on the bus? I want that guy or girl on TV.’ I’m looking forward to that stuff.”
John Cena's Hollywood ambitions
While many view retirement as a time to relax, Cena is ramping up his acting career.
In a stroke of genius casting, he’ll play the antagonistic lawyer Buddy Crane in the 2026 Coyote vs. Acme, a live-action animated hybrid about the beloved rascal Wile E. Coyote. Also next year, wrestling fans will see Cena as the lead in Matchbox, an action-packed racing flick based on the iconic toy cars.
Both of which follow Cena’s biggest role: President of the United States in the comedy Heads of State, prompting fans to ask whether he would ever run for office. He quickly put that to rest.
“I just happen to wear a suit and say my character’s in the Oval Office,” he told Us Weekly in May. “I think that’s about as far as we can take that.”
John Cena’s true love is his wife, Shay Shariatzadeh
Married since 2020, Cena and Shariatzadeh, 35, had a whirlwind romance, having met the year before while he filmed Playing with Fire in Vancouver. As fate would have it, they were at the same Super Bowl party in February when one of Shariatzadeh’s friends recognized the wrestler and asked for a group photo.
Now, she his go-to for everything, including advice.
“The answer would change over the years, but whose approval matters to me today? I certainly got to run it by my wife because she’s my partner,” Cena told Rinaldi of the Iranian-born Canadian citizen, who is a product manager in the tech industry. “She’s the one person, we run a three-legged race. So, it’s her and that’s it.”
His goal for retirement? Having “meaningful conversations” with Shariatzadeh, he told McMahon, and loved ones, but wrestling will always be close to his heart.
Cena’s final match against WWE World Heavyweight Champion Gunther takes place on Saturday, Dec. 13, on WWE’s Saturday Night’s Main Event. For more news on Cena, check back right here on USA Insider.
