How do you effectively sum up the career of a legend?
How do you take a quarter-century worth of accomplishments, championships and memories and boil them down into something easily digestible, yet appropriately meaningful at the same time?
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How do you quantify a once-in-a-generation run in a realm that doesn’t track bumps taken, finishers hit or smiles delivered?
In an industry as unquantifiable as professional wrestling, you swerve everyone, and look at the numbers.
There’s the biggest one, 17, representing the record number of world championships won. There’s 26, the number of years wrestled when all is said and done. There’s 1,554, the tally of matches to this point in the career. There’s 100, the number of victories at premium live events — when the lights are brightest.
All of those are great, but they fail to encapsulate John Cena, who, on Saturday, will wrestle for the final time in a WWE ring. For Cena, the number that should exemplify his legacy is three.
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There’s an intended irony in describing a retiring pro wrestler’s career with the number three, as it represents a finality in the ring, but when looking at Cena’s legacy, it boils down to a trio of personas that embodied the superstar who defined a generation.
John Cena, the wrestler.
John Cena, the entertainer.
John Cena, the ambassador.
(Josh Heim, Yahoo Sports)
John Cena, the wrestler
From an in-ring perspective, Cena’s style worked incredibly well for what it was.
Never a high-flyer or traditional worker — there’s a reason it took until his final months for Cena to capture the WWE Intercontinental Championship, known as the worker’s title — the early portions of Cena’s career became defined by a power-based attack and a moveset that came to be known as the “Five Moves of Doom,” which would usually be unleashed after taking a beating from his opponent and ultimately result in a win. The rinse-and-repeat formula earned him the nickname “Super Cena” from fans who were disenfranchised with the repetitive nature of his matches.
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Still, there were many high points that proved these criticisms of Cena to be largely unfounded and subjective.
During the late 2000s, Cena’s rivalries with Shawn Michaels, Randy Orton and Edge produced classics that still hold up today. His return at the 2008 Royal Rumble is among the biggest in the history of the event. Cena headlined six WrestleManias, including three consecutive from 2011 to 2013, wrestling a pair of underrated matches against Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in a proverbial passing-of-the-torch moment. His 2011 Money in the Bank championship match against CM Punk still stands out as one of the best of his career and helped cement Punk’s status as a legend in WWE.
Cena’s style was what fit for himself and WWE at the time. It was part of what made him such an excellent contrast with the likes of Michaels, Edge, Punk and, later in his career, AJ Styles, all of whom had higher in-ring work rates. He also had seemingly limitless strength, lifting Big Show, Mark Henry and, at times, multiple wrestlers onto his shoulders for his Attitude Adjustment finisher.
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The arrival of Styles helped Cena shed any perceived slights about his in-ring ability. Cena and Styles met for the first time on a WWE PLE at Money in the Bank in 2016, but their best match of that initial run came at SummerSlam that same year. It was an instant classic, showcasing the contrasting styles of both men and seemingly unlocking something in Cena as the quality of his matches quickly began to outweigh the sheer quantity of them.
Throughout the 2010s, Cena also quelled misconceptions about burying talent. Alongside the “Super Cena” critiques came the notion that his star shined at the expense of younger talent. While it’s not an uncommon criticism at the top of the card in professional wrestling, in Cena’s case, he played a pivotal role in introducing the Nexus and elevating the United States Championship, with his open challenge serving as the main roster introductions for the likes of Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn.
This final run as an in-ring performer has been among Cena’s best — again, quality over quantity.
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Cena’s shown a mastery of ring psychology, an expanded moveset and the same Herculean power that made him one of the greatest of all time. Renewed rivalries with Orton and Punk have hit every note of nostalgia you would expect. His final match with Cody Rhodes provided both another five-star effort and his own passing-of-the-torch moment, 12 years after WrestleMania 29. His reunion with AJ Styles was a swan song for two icons that will not be matched any time soon. Perhaps the most telling thing about Cena’s entire run is that, despite what he has said in interviews about this final year, he never appeared to slow down in the ring.
John Cena, the entertainer
In many ways, Cena probably shouldn’t have been as successful as he has been. After bursting onto the scene in 2001 more as “The Prototype” than “John Cena,” it took the Massachusetts native some time to find his footing in WWE.
Ultimately, Cena’s charisma and talent as an entertainer won out, leading to his freestyle-rapping, jersey-wearing “Doctor of Thuganomics” character. What feels dated in 2025 worked immensely for Cena 20 years ago, connecting him with the crowd in a way that would only enhance and evolve at seemingly every turn for the next two decades.
Cena faced two major transitional hurdles in his career, particularly as he moved up the card in WWE.
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First, with Stone Cold Steve Austin retired and The Rock focused on Hollywood, there was a void as WWE moved from the beloved “Attitude Era” around 2002 into what is now looked back on as the “Ruthless Aggression Era.” Cena — and fellow OVW standouts Batista, Brock Lesnar and Orton — helped bridge the gap, even with legends like The Undertaker, Michaels and Triple H still occupying main-event slots, but none reached the heights that Cena did.
The second challenge ran parallel to the first. While violence and sex appeal helped WWE win the Monday Night Wars, the company was set to move into a more family-friendly direction by the summer of 2008: The “PG Era.”
Cena, after rising to fame as the “Doctor of Thuganomics,” essentially scrubbed his character, trading the throwback jerseys for brightly colored WWE-branded merch, renaming his signature move from its original moniker — the F-U — and weaving in themes of patriotism and military after starring in “The Marine.” While the trademark intensity was still there, the message and tone shifted in a way that matched the direction WWE wanted to go and cemented Cena as the purest babyface character of the past quarter century.
Throughout all of it, Cena’s ability to connect with an audience and deliver meaningful promos never wavered. There was merchandise, catchphrases, a rap album — including his own now-timeless theme — movies, commercials and plenty more that all played a role in building Cena up into one of the most impactful entertainers in pro-wrestling history.
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As Cena’s career progressed, particularly as he shifted from full-time WWE superstar to dipping his foot into the Hollywood pond, a new authenticity came when he picked up the microphone in the ring. Rather than sticking strictly to kayfabe, Cena consistently broke the fourth wall in a way that elevated his segments, while also serving as a wink and a nod to a professional wrestling culture that was increasingly online and connected to behind-the-scenes happenings.
Even during his retirement tour, Cena showed new depth as an entertainer. Say what you will about his overall 2025 heel run, Cena strung us along in the early part of the year and the turn itself was arguably as stunning as we’ve seen since July 7, 1996. Then, when it was time to turn again, Cena flipped the switch and it was back to business.
John Cena, the ambassador
The final pillar of Cena’s legacy is perhaps the most important. Beyond the 17 world championships or the millions of dollars in merchandise and tickets sold stands Cena’s role as an ambassador for WWE.
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For 20 years, Cena served as a reliable spokesperson for WWE, capable of presenting the very best the company had to offer with a squeaky-clean image and charisma for days.
WWE needed to promote an event? Send Cena to Kimmel or Conan.
Nickelodeon needs a host for the Kid’s Choice Awards? Call Cena.
For a billion-dollar company, Cena was the QB1 of QB1s when it came to public relations, but it stretched beyond that.
Cena has worked extensively with Make-A-Wish throughout his career, granting more than 650 wishes for sick children and their families as the current Guinness World Record holder for the foundation. As much as the IWC will debate star ratings or get into tribal feuds over promotions, Cena’s generosity and kind heart are an undeniable measure of his greatness not just as a performer, but as a human being.
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Cena embraced his role as a real-life superhero for millions of kids, offering up just a few minutes of his time to brighten up the lives of those who needed it most.
Now comes the hard part.
Having examined the elements that made Cena who he is today, we have to ask how do you sum it all up?
Have there been and will there be better wrestlers than Cena? Yes.
Have there been and will there be better entertainers than Cena? Yes, but there’s so much subjectivity involved that it’s very much up for debate.
Have there been or will there be better ambassadors than Cena? Almost certainly not.
In a world built on kayfabe, Cena brought an authenticity that overcame industry-wide shifts, thriving across multiple decades, showcasing longevity that lasted from flip phones to FaceTime.
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In a landscape that begs for change — in character or company — Cena embodied his motto, “hustle, loyalty, respect” better than maybe anyone ever, and when he did turn, the wrestling world collectively said “no thanks, we like it better the old way.”
With the last time finally being now, it’s all clear:
We won’t see another John Cena again.
