John Cena says wrestling retirements carry ‘weight and importance’
John Cena says when wrestlers tell fans they are retiring, that has weight and importance.
Cena spoke with TMZ Sports on the red carpet of the WWE Hall of Fame ceremony on Friday. He was asked about AJ Styles’ retirement and whether he believes Styles will stay retired. Cena responded by saying he hopes to set a trend of wrestlers staying retired.
Cena said:
“I’m one of those folks who will be the first wrestler to actually retire and I hope I set a trend and he’s the second,” Cena said, referring to Styles.
“I think it’s very important that we respect our audience and when they invest in us to see us for the last time, I think that that has weight and importance.”
Styles has said that he would be interested in coming out of retirement for the chance to wrestle with his son, who is training to be a wrestler. Cena continued that if Styles has the opportunity to wrestle with his son, he should do so, and wrestling fans would accept that.
Cena continued:
“AJ’s path was a little different than mine. I know his son is also in the business. So, as much as selfishly I want to say like, ‘Oh, you’re retired, why don’t you stay retired?’ If he has a chance to wrestle with his son, he should take it. And I think the audience would want to see that. But hopefully he wouldn’t say that if he didn’t feel it was time to step away.”
Styles was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2026 shortly after this interview took place. He was inducted by Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows to close the ceremony.
Cena’s full discussion with TMZ Sports is available below.
Ian Carey is a writer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, whose work has been featured in NOW Magazine, The Huffington Post, and more. A lifelong wrestling aficionado born in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, he has covered the industry for a decade and a half. He joined the f4wonline.com team in 2019.