John Cena shares what he misses most in WWE retirement
On the promotional tour for his new movie, John Cena stopped by The Tonight Show on Wednesday for an interview with Jimmy Fallon.
“Little Brother,” starring Cena and comedian Eric Andre, premieres on Netflix on June 26. Cena discussed the project on The Tonight Show along with speaking about his post-WWE retirement life. Fallon asked if Cena misses the physicality of the ring.
“No,” Cena replied. “What I miss is the audience, the energy that I feel when you come through the curtain. I miss this stuff [the fans cheering for him]. I had to walk away because I can’t get body-slammed anymore. It was time. Yes, indeed.”
Cena said he used to feel “jagged” the day after performing on Raw, but now Tuesdays are great for him. It’s been years since he last worked a full-time WWE schedule, but he did return in 2025 for a retirement tour that spanned from January through December, concluding with his loss to Gunther on December 13.
Following his in-ring retirement, Cena remains with WWE as an ambassador and is working on developing the John Cena Classic, an event that’s being targeted for the end of 2026. It’s still a work in progress, but Cena has described it as WWE’s version of an All-Star Game. Wrestlers from the main roster and NXT will compete at the show, with one wrestler being voted the John Cena Classic Champion. Even if you lose your match, you are still eligible for the championship fan vote.
Cena hosted both nights of WWE WrestleMania 42 this April and also appeared the following month at Backlash, where he first announced the John Cena Classic concept.
John Cena in “Little Brother” —
In the “Little Brother” movie, Cena plays the character Rudd, whose life is thrown into chaos when Andre’s character Marcus — who was paired with Cena in a high school mentorship program — pops back up into his life.
- Rudd (John Cena) has the perfect life – great job, loving family, and a thriving career as a real estate agent… until his little brother, Marcus (Eric Andre), crashes back into his world as a full-blown agent of chaos, stress-testing every part of Rudd’s carefully controlled existence.
Andre made an appearance on Raw this week to help promote the movie.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.