John Cena Reacts To Brock Lesnar WWE Retirement Announcement

WWE

John Cena has now reacted to Brock Lesnar announcing his WWE retirement, sharing a post in tribute to Lesnar and another retired star.

After losing to Oba Femi in their Hell in a Cell match in the main event of SummerSlam night one, Brock Lesnar lifted Femi’s arm and declared him “the future”.

Lesnar has now confirmed that he’s done with wrestling, announcing his in-ring retirement during the August 4 edition of the Pat McAfee Show.

John Cena – who stepped away from wrestling himself in December 2025 – has now taken to Instagram to share a new post referencing Lesnar hanging up his boots for good.

The post – which you can view below this news story – shows Cena, Lesnar and AJ Styles’ firsts together.

Cena, Lesnar and Styles are all wrestlers from around the same era who have each retired within a number of months of each other.

John Cena – who made his in-ring debut in 1999 and his official WWE main roster debut in 2002 – wrestled his last match at the December 13, 2025 Saturday Night’s Main Event special, losing to GUNTHER.

AJ Styles – who’s wrestling debut came in 1998 – also wrestled GUNTHER in his final match, losing a career-threatening bout against the Ring General at Royal Rumble in January.

Brock Lesnar’s SummerSlam loss was the culmination of a pro-wrestling career which started with his in-ring debut in OVW in 2000.

Following his loss to Brock Lesnar at Wrestlepalooza 2025, John Cena had indicated that Lesnar’s career would be over “very soon”, and that the reason for The Beast going over on that night was to help make him a bigger mountain for his successor to conquer.

It’s fair to say that this has worked, with Oba Femi now hotter than ever following his 2-1 series victory over Lesnar.

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• retirement
• wwe
• John Cena
• Brock Lesnar

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