The final Saturday Night’s Main Event of 2025 has passed and with it, one of WWE’s most memorable angles of recent years—the John Cena farewell tour—has officially closed. It was a momentous year that certainly saw Cena get his flowers, accomplish a great deal, and move along from sports entertainment with interest in him as a character and performer near its peak.
The retirement year wasn’t entirely smooth, though. With the past twelve months to look back on, there’s plenty to celebrate, but also a number of points worthy of critique.
WWE Got Right: The Heel Turn
When fans look back at John Cena’s farewell tour years into the future, the part they may well remember most will be his heel turn. Cena had been a steady babyface since late 2003, weathering a lot of boos, fans calling for him to turn heel, creative that even pointed in that direction a couple times, and no shortage of booking theories that would have adjusted his attitude over the years.
No one really saw a Cena heel turn coming in 2025, when it seemed too late for his character to make an impact that way, besides which even a large portion of his detractors were ready to cheer him on, knowing they only had one year left to do so.
The moment of the heel turn, while arguably imperfect for the largely nonsensical involvement of The Rock and Travis Scott (made worse in hindsight when both men faded from view), nonetheless had the audience buzzing. It was a big enough swerve to grab the attention of lapsed and casual fans. While Cena’s farewell tour would grab headlines no matter what—especially after he won Elimination Chamber and punched his ticket for a WrestleMania world title shot—this bold creative choice absolutely maximized the electricity around The Never Seen Seventeen.
WWE Got Wrong: The WrestleMania Main Event Execution
The final match of WrestleMania 41 was, by most metrics, underwhelming. John Cena worked a plodding style, which he has since spoken to in interviews, articulating that his slow, less-fan-friendly approach was by design to sell his new heel persona who vowed to “ruin wrestling.” From there, an underwhelming mid-match entrance from Travis Scott didn’t really satisfy anyone, en route to Cena anticlimactically hitting Cody Rhodes with a single belt shot to steal the title.
Whether it was Cena’s consciously boring style, or him still getting the ring rust off, working only his third match of the year and his first one-on-one bout in over a year, the match felt boring—beneath the talent involved, the storyline, and especially the WrestleMania main event spots.
WWE Got Right: Winning Titles
One of the biggest questions going into John Cena’s farewell tour was whether he’d make history, breaking his tie with Ric Flair as the only men to win sixteen (WWE-recognized) world titles and become the sole record-holder at seventeen. More quietly, wrestling nerds were quick to point out Cena also had unfinished business in never having won the Intercontinental Championship—the only main roster title he was eligible for during his entire WWE run but had never captured and the key to unlocking Grand Slam Champion status.
As much the as the final match of WrestleMania 41 didn’t exactly send fans home happy, it is fitting that Cena won his last world title in the main event of his last ‘Mania, twenty years after he won his first one from JBL and The Showcase of the Immortals. Moreover, while winning the Intercontinental Championship off Dominik Mysterio was less historically noteworthy, it was fun to see Cena complete one last goal besides doing so in his penultimate Raw appearance and his final time wrestling in Boston.
It’s also worth noting how Cena’s two 2025 title reigns came to an end, in each case dropping the title back to the man he won it from. While one might argue Cena derailed the momentum of the younger champs, each man getting the rub of pinning Cena on a Big Four PLE to get the title back may well have been the bigger story in pushing them to new heights.
WWE Got Wrong: The Brock Lesnar Match
The concept of John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar at WrestlePalooza drew mixed reactions from wrestling fans. Yes, there was a certain nostalgia factor to Cena locking up with one of his biggest rivals one last time, and the two have had memorable outings together, like their bloody masterpiece at Extreme Rules 2012 and their iconic squash at SummerSlam 2014.
Cena and Lesnar had also assembled lackluster outings together, though, in 2025 there wasn’t exactly much reason for hope they’d put together a classic. These issues were exacerbated by Lesnar’s legitimate heat for allegations about real life issues connected to Vince McMahon.
The hope had to be that the last Cena vs. Lesnar showdown would not only be a good match but provide Cena with some closure as he picked up arguably his first truly decisive win over The Beast after years of Lesnar largely having his number. Unfortunately, WWE wouldn’t deliver on either of these outcomes. The match was dull and uneventful save for Lesnar winning in brutal fashion to ensure Cena fans—and particularly kids rooting for him after his face turn—felt defeated with time running out and Cena working his third-to-last ever PLE match.
WWE Got Right: John Cena’s Last Match
John Cena’s last match was a success on a variety of levels. Declaring a tournament to crown his final opponent helped build to the event even on Raw and SmackDown episodes when Cena wasn’t around. The tournament and culminating Saturday Night’s Main Event also lent an extra sense of focus to what can feel like a throwaway portion of WWE’s year with out a proper PLE, before the build to WrestleMania season.
WWE demonstrated real marketing savvy in promoting this event well and milking the nostalgia for all it was worth to create an event with a must-see feel. Moreover, the match delivered. There was a case for Cena winning to provide a happy ending (particularly for the benefit of young fans), and opinions vary on whether him tapping out was the right call. Regardless, the match itself was the embodiment of a defining part of The Last Real Champion’s legacy: holding up his end and playing up to a superior dance partner’s abilities to deliver an excellent bout.
WWE Got Wrong: Time Squandered On Logan Paul
When wrestling historians look back on John Cena’s farewell tour, they’ll note eighteen in-ring performances. Four of those matches—more than twenty percent—heavily featured Logan Paul.
To be fair, that figure includes the Royal Rumble and Elimination Chamber performances early in the year. No one can reasonably be offended at Cena sharing ring time with The Maverick in the thirty-man Rumble, and it’s not really fair to bash them being in the same Chamber. The two forming a main event tag team for Money in the Bank is, however, underwhelming at best. And though the two had a very good match at Clash at Paris, it’s still hard to accept there weren’t better options on the table for Cena. He had noteworthy rivals he didn’t revisit like Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, The Miz, Sheamus, or Rusev. He had first-time opponents with lowkey dream matches left unseen against the likes of Drew McIntyre, Bron Breakker, or Oba Femi.
Paul is a very good in-ring performer for how inexperienced he is, and he may well arrive as a world champ and full-fledged, unequivocal main event guy in the years ahead. The fact remains, though, that the singles and all the more so the tag match carried absolutely no stakes, not to mention little drama as to who would win. Add on that the jury remains out in perpetuity as to whether Paul will settle in as a main roster mainstay or finally land on the wrong side of the line and get canceled for good. History will probably look back on Paul’s heavy hand in Cena’s last year as, at best, neutral, and more likely a sign of missed opportunities.
In the end, it will probably take some hindsight for fans to properly asses John Cena’s final year as an in-ring performer. It had its ups and downs, but much like the rest of his year, it undoubtedly got fans talking. Cena will never be forgotten in WWE lore, and he added a noteworthy final chapter his part of the story.