With only one date remaining on his year-long farewell tour, WWE icon John Cena recently revealed his initial, far more ambitious vision for his final year of in-ring competition.
During an interview with Bill Simmons, Cena explained that he had originally wanted to commit to a full, old-school schedule of 220 dates, a grueling pace reminiscent of WWE’s schedule from a decade ago.
Cena acknowledged that his initial pitch was overly optimistic due to his busy Hollywood career, which he had been prepared to clear entirely for the tour. He expressed gratitude that WWE’s new schedule prevented him from undertaking the exhausting endeavor.
“The plan originally was to do a full year — this just goes to show my ignorance in the business — I wanted to do 220 dates, just take the year off of everything, hop on a bus, do a full WWE calendar, and like, totally say goodbye,” Cena explained. “Thank goodness the business isn’t like that anymore, because I’d be done. They only needed me for 36 [dates].”
John Cena’s Final Count
The final count for his tour did settle at “around 36 dates,” a number Cena revealed before the tour officially began. WWE Head of Communications Chris Legentil publicly stated that the limited number of appearances would still constitute a “full-time” run.
Cena also provided insight into the physical demands of threading his 36-date schedule with his outside filming commitments, noting that he was constantly flying between locations like Budapest and Morocco and WWE events in Europe and Australia.
Unfortunately for his fans, only one date remains on Cena’s farewell tour: Saturday Night’s Main Event on December 13 in Washington, D.C., where he will compete in his last match. His final opponent will be determined tonight on the December 5 edition of Friday Night SmackDown, where Gunther is slated to face LA Knight.
One of the two men will have the distinct honor of retiring Cena, a star who has faced numerous legends, including Cody Rhodes, CM Punk, Randy Orton, and Sami Zayn during the tour.
The final match is the culmination of “The Last Time Is Now” tournament. Both Gunther and LA Knight advanced to the final following intense matches on the December 1 episode of Monday Night Raw. LA Knight defeated Jey Uso with a roll-up pin, while Gunther defeated Solo Sikoa. Interestingly, neither Gunther nor LA Knight has ever wrestled John Cena in WWE before, making the winner’s victory over the 17-time World Champion a moment that will forever be etched in history.
