Ranking All 18 Matches From John Cena's WWE Retirement Tour

More than a year and a half after it was announced, John Cena's WWE retirement run has come to a close. But how did it actually stand up against expectations?

Cena's final WWE stand saw championships won, serious character changes, unforgettable moments (for better or for worse), and some of the most physical matches of the WWE GOAT's career. Now that his career-closing bout with Gunther is in the books, The Takedown at SI ranked all 18 matches from Cena's retirement run, diving into the 17-time champion's last year in wrestling.

18. John Cena vs. R-Truth, Saturday Night's Main Event XXXIX

Cena and R-Truth have years of history together, and their adoration for one another is truly heartwarming. Their work together in 2025, however, was not.

This was largely a comedy match that saw Truth attempt to work like Cena, even dressing as him. Cena would pick up the win, and it would be Truth's second-to-last match before revealing he was being let go by WWE. It's a shame the company didn't have more fun with the Truth and Cena pairing, as it definitely could have been leaned into more as an emotional aid rather than a speedbump in the retirement tour road.

17. John Cena vs. R-Truth, SmackDown, June 20

This match came on the heels of Truth being brought back to WWE after vocal support from fans and talent alike. He would briefly work under his real name, Ron Killings, showing a more aggressive side of himself with shaved hair.

It's not often you'll see a DQ finish ranked above a normal match, but at least this match was a brawl with a little bit of intensity and physicality. CM Punk would get involved, leading to the reverse-pipebomb promo from Cena. Ultimately, this match was just a vehicle to get to that, and it would be the last time Truth and Cena would work together.

16. John Cena and Cody Rhodes vs. Drew McIntyre and Logan Paul, SmackDown, Aug. 8

It's easy to forget that Cena and Cody Rhodes teamed just days after their brutal and physical SummerSlam match, but they joined forces to face Drew McIntyre and Logan Paul.

Cena was barely a part of this match, earning the hot tag not long before it came to a close. It ended in fewer than eight minutes after Paul hit Cena with a low blow, resulting in a disqualification. This would lead to Cena and Paul not long after in a match that far exceeded the quality of this one.

15. John Cena vs. Cody Rhodes, Undisputed WWE Championship Match, WWE WrestleMania 41

On paper, a bout between the past (Cena) and the present (Rhodes) had everything you needed to be a smashing success of a WrestleMania main event.

Cena was chasing the illustrious world championship No. 17, and Rhodes was firmly the face of the company. The 48-year-old Cena had shocked the world by turning heel on Rhodes during the build, meaning the dynamic would be our first look at bad guy Cena in more than two decades.

It not only didn't work, but it was quite possibly the worst Premium Live Event main event match of Cena's career. More than 25 minutes of plunder, performers uncomfortable in their roles, and a now-infamous Travis Scott run-in resulted in Cena winning No. 17, but without the fanfare that should have accompanied it.

A Cena turn in this situation would have made much more sense if that was the route they wanted to go, but alas, it was not always part of the plan.

14. John Cena vs. Brock Lesnar, WWE Wrestlepalooza

Cena vs Lesnar at Wrestlepalooza — Cena and Lesnar's rematch fell short of expectations. | WWE

Brock Lesnar made a stunning return to WWE at the end of SummerSlam, laying out Cena with an F5. This would set up a match between the two of them a month and a half later at the inaugural Wrestlepalooza event.

The two opened the show, and it didn't exactly start on the best note. A barrage of suplexes from Lesnar to Cena left the retiring veteran reeling, hardly attaining any offense on his longtime rival. Worse, there was no payoff to Lesnar destroying Cena, with no return match to follow.

13. John Cena vs. Dominik Mysterio, WWE Intercontinental Championship Match, WWE Survivor Series

Many people enjoyed Cena vs. Dominik Mysterio for the WWE Intercontinental Championship at WWE Survivor Series, but mainly for its end visual.

There were five total interferences in this match, all from members of The Judgment Day attempting to help Mysterio take Cena down. The biggest of them all, a returning Liv Morgan, drove San Diego into a frenzy, as she sealed the deal for "Dirty Dom."

The match itself, while featuring some creative homages to Eddie Guerrero, was full of too much gaga to rank highly on this list. Cena was taken advantage of in the ring by six people, yet he got no comeuppance on any of them in the end.

12. John Cena vs. Randy Orton, Undisputed WWE Championship Match, WWE Backlash

Cena and Randy Orton have more history than perhaps anyone on this list, and their final match together came with plenty of hype.

Orton would be Cena's first WWE Championship defense of his final run, with the bout going down in the former's hometown of St. Louis. It was a good way to stack the crowd in his favor against a newly heel Cena, and the match had several hot moments.

Like a lot of Cena's heel matches, though, it relied heavily on outside interference, belt shots, and craziness. WWE producers ate RKOs, Truth would interfere to stop Orton from punting his hero, then Orton would fall victim to a belt shot.

11. John Cena vs. CM Punk, Undisputed WWE Championship Match, WWE Night of Champions

Cena and CM Punk have put on some of the most prolific performances of the last 20 years in WWE, and their rematch in Saudi Arabia was one many were looking forward to. The dynamic of Cena as a heel vs. a babyface Punk was different, and the aforementioned reverse pipebomb built legitimate buzz.

The two wrestled for 20 minutes before the walls broke down entirely, with ref bumps and interference galore. The Vision would attempt to get involved, hoping to allow Seth Rollins to cash his Money in the Bank briefcase in (this match does get points for the reference to Charles Robinson running down the ramp, though). Rollins would attempt to steal the title with a stomp, but Cena tossed him from the ring and covered Punk to win.

Sometimes, less is more, and this match had a lot.

10. John Cena and Logan Paul vs. Cody Rhodes and Jey Uso, WWE Money in the Bank

John Cena & Logan Paul vs. Cody Rhodes & Jey Uso at Money in the Bank. | WWE.com

Cena, Rhodes, Logan Paul, and Jey Uso carry quite a bit of star power, but this tag match from WWE Money in the Bank is an odd one on our list.

The low-stakes match itself worked plenty fine, with the babyfaces earning the win in a bout that laid the groundwork for future dissension between Paul and Cena. But it's hard not to wonder what this match was originally going to be.

Recently, it was insinuated by Paul that Travis Scott was intended to be in this match, which ultimately would have led to it being a six-man tag. It is likely Cena, Paul, and Scott would have faced Rhodes and The Usos had it happened that way.

9. John Cena, Rey Mysterio, and Sheamus vs. Dominik Mysterio, Finn Bálor, and JD McDonagh, Raw, Nov. 17

A lot of the second half of Cena's retirement run was spent helping elevate others while providing feel-good moments with faces from the past, and this match on Monday Night Raw was just that.

Cena was set to defend his WWE Intercontinental Championship at Survivor Series at the end of the month, but he wanted a match against Dominik Mysterio that night. After getting jumped by The Judgment Day, Rey Mysterio and Sheamus made the save, setting up an impromptu six-man tag.

The three babyfaces put a house show-style beating on the heel faction, with all three at one point hitting a Five Knuckle Shuffle at the same time. Cena, Sheamus, and Mysterio stood tall at the end, the final win of Cena's career.

8. 2025 WWE Men's Royal Rumble Match

Jey Uso won the 2025 Men's Royal Rumble match. | WWE

The 2025 WWE Men's Royal Rumble match was a strong one. Though admittedly, it's hard to rank a match Cena wasn't a big part of highly on the list.

Even so, Cena played a very important role in the match. He entered at No. 23, lasting more than 30 minutes and eliminating three people. The implication among most fans was that he would go on to main event WrestleMania, and there was no way Jey Uso was going to be the one to rob him of that guarantee.

Naturally, Uso knocked Cena off of the apron for one of the wildest Rumble wins of all time.

7. John Cena vs. Dominik Mysterio, WWE Intercontinental Championship Match, Raw, Nov. 10

Cena's Boston homecoming received a grand welcome from Triple H, and the emotions were hot at TD Garden as Cena began to address his people. That's when "Dirty Dom" interrupted.

What followed was a perfectly executed 15-minute TV match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship, with Cena's last great moment happening before the city that made him a star. He would win the title and, in the process, become a career Grand Slam Champion.

The pin count was one of the loudest ovations of Cena's career, and a major piece of the retirement tour.

6. John Cena vs. Sami Zayn, WWE United States Championship Match, SmackDown, Sept. 5

The 2014-2015 WWE United States Championship reign from Cena, headlined by the United States Championship Open Challenge initiative, was a resurgence period for the future Hall of Famer.

Cena opened the door for stars of the present and future to get a crack at the title, elevating the belt significantly in the process. One of those young guns he gave an opportunity to was Sami Zayn. Zayn would pay it forward by asking for Cena's permission to continue the open challenge while he was champion in 2025, and the two then would have a barnburner of a TV bout.

Unfortunately, it ended in a no-contest after Lesnar interfered, but bell-to-bell, it was one of the stronger matches of his last run.

5. John Cena vs. CM Punk vs. Damian Priest vs. Seth Rollins vs. Drew McIntyre vs. Logan Paul, WWE Elimination Chamber

Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson — It is unclear if The Rock has returned Cena's soul yet. | IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire

The Undisputed WWE Championship No. 1 Contender Elimination Chamber match featured a loaded array of talent, and everyone had an opportunity to shine. For Cena, it would be the start of something much bigger.

The match came to a boiling point when it was down to Cena and Punk, as a recently-eliminated Rollins took advantage of a scrambling Punk by nailing him with a Curb Stomp on the outside. Cena, who traditionally would never take the aid of a cheater, gladly snatched the assist, locking Punk in an STF and winning the match.

It was a subtle spot that foreshadowed what was to come moments later, when he blew up the wrestling world by "selling his soul" to The Rock and turning heel.

4. John Cena vs. Logan Paul, WWE Clash in Paris

Logan Paul and John Cena in Paris. | WWE

One of the biggest knocks on Cena over the past five years or so is that he has lost a significant step in the ring. It's a big part of why he decided to retire, in fact, as he felt he physically could not do it at a high level anymore.

His match with Paul at WWE Clash in Paris, though, proved he still had enough juice in him to get through the final quarter of the year. Paul's natural athleticism proved to play well into what Cena brought to the table at 48, and it was arguably one of Paul's strongest WWE outings to date, given the circumstances.

3. John Cena vs. AJ Styles, WWE Crown Jewel

The build to the final encounter between Cena and. AJ Styles, one of his greatest rivals, happened entirely off-screen. It was anticlimactic, and a match of that magnitude was undeserving of that treatment.

Ultimately, none of that mattered in Perth, as Cena and Styles sports-entertained the hell out of all of the fans in attendance and around the world. The encounter was hardly a match at all, in fact, but rather a series of homages and callbacks to peers who helped lay the groundwork for both of their Hall of Fame careers.

With Styles expected to retire in 2026, it was a great showing for both to not just show appreciation to others, but receive their flowers as well.

2. John Cena vs. Gunther, Saturday Night's Main Event XLII

The final moments of John Cena's career were certainly polarizing, but the performance he and Gunther delivered at Saturday Night's Main Event XLII was nothing short of electric.

Gunther, a two-time former WWE World Heavyweight Champion, laid the story out perfectly after winning the Last Time is Now Tournament: Cena never gives up. He makes people give up. Something's gotta give, right?

With that, Cena elevated the 38-year-old into legendary status, tapping out to the Austrian brute and capping his career staring up at the lights. The match started funky, but evolved into a brawl and test of survival as "Big Match John" attempted to rise above hate one last time. Even if unsuccessful, it was a tremendous note to go out on.

1. John Cena vs. Cody Rhodes, Undisputed WWE Championship Street Fight, WWE SummerSlam

Somehow, John Cena and Cody Rhodes had one of the worst WWE matches of the year, and simultaneously, one of the best. The street fight for the Undisputed WWE Championship at SummerSlam may have even been one of the greatest matches of Cena's career, as a matter of fact.

Cena's once-thunderous heel turn quickly ran out of steam, and without direction, flopped wildly. Even though the SummerSlam rematch was made under the pretense of Cena being a bad guy, the company abandoned ship two days before the match, having the 17-time champ turn good again seemingly out of nowhere.

It made little sense at the time, and undermined the stipulation of the street fight. But when you have performers of that magnitude, parameters mean little.

Rhodes and Cena delivered an all-time classic SummerSlam match, beating the life out of one another and pushing their physical limitations. Cena would return the favor from WrestleMania to Rhodes, dropping the belt and endorsing the current face of the company.

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