Wrestling World Reacts To John Cena’s WWE Retirement

WWE

John Cena has had the last match in his WWE career, and stars from across the wrestling world have reacted.

The December 13 edition of WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event saw John Cena step into the ring to face the winner of the Last Time Is Now Tournament, GUNTHER.

Cena would end his WWE career with a loss to The Ring General, with a celebration for his final in-ring appearance taking place promptly after the match.

While tributes were paid to Cena during WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event, more stars from across the wrestling world have also reacted to the record-breaking star’s retirement.

The match took fans on quite an emotional journey, as could clearly be heard among those in attendance, with Bishop Dyer (fka Baron Corbin) sharing his own reaction, tweeting:

“I’m not crying, you’re crying!

“That smile broke me!

“#ThankYouCena”

The “Thank You,” message would be shared by the likes of WWE’s Carmelo Hayes, Jade Cargill, Bronson Reed (who shared a photo a photo of The Vision attacking Cena), Dragon Lee and Alexa Bliss.

Beyond WWE, AEW’s Christopher Daniels would congratulation Cena, reflecting on their WWE Velocity match from 2003, tweeting:

“Thank you John. And congratulations on all your success. Sorry we only did this once.”

The tweet would be accompanied by a somewhat grainy image of Cena gorilla pressing Daniels from that very match.

ROH Women’s World Champion Athena (formerly Ember Moon in WWE) would also share her thanks, as did the Mara Sade (fka Jakara Jackson) along with a crying emoji.

AEW commentator Taz gave his congratulations and praise to Cena following a show that saw Michael Cole give him a shoutout, tweeting:

“Major congrats to the man @JohnCena on an absolutely amazing career!

“Cena always was a super guy & amazing performer! I miss him. I have amazing memories of calling so many of Cena segments w/ my man
@MichaelCole during our years on SmackDown!”

Indi Hartwell, herself a former WWE star, would share a quote as a tribute to the retired star, along with an image of Cena smiling in the final moments of his last match, posting:

“Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.”

With Cena losing his final match in WWE to GUNTHER, Triple H has since addressed criticism of the result.

Thank you John. And congratulations on all your success. Sorry we only did this once.#ThankYouCena pic.twitter.com/bEqJcdgrSA

— Christopher Daniels (@facdaniels) December 13, 2025

Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.#ThankYouCena #SNME pic.twitter.com/FZiHjsS9sJ

— Indi Wrestling (@indi_hartwell) December 14, 2025

#ThankYouCena 🙏🏾🤞🏾 pic.twitter.com/byITDIQDVz

— Carmelo Hayes (@Carmelo_WWE) December 14, 2025

#ThankYouCena 🥹 pic.twitter.com/VKM0RRNCSP

— Jade Cargill (@Jade_Cargill) December 14, 2025

Thank you @JohnCena 🥺🫱🏻‍🫲🏽 pic.twitter.com/BzCjObtj4d

— Dragon Lee (@dragonlee95) December 14, 2025

Thank you @JohnCena 🙏🏻

— Lexi (Kaufman) Cabrera (@AlexaBliss_WWE) December 14, 2025

Thank you for everything John!

— Athena is ROH & All Elite! (@AthenaPalmer_FG) December 14, 2025

🥹 #Thankyoucena

— Mara Sadé (@itsmarasade) December 14, 2025

I’m not crying you’re crying!

That smile broke me! #ThankYouCena

— Tom (@TomPestock) December 14, 2025

 

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• AEW
• wwe
• John Cena
• saturday night's main event

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