How WWE Redeemed John Cena's Retirement Tour With An All-Time Great Boston Moment

John Cena winning world title No. 17 at WrestleMania 41 was a lay-up.

When Cena announced last year that 2025 would be the final year of his in-ring career, history was an inevitability. One of pro wrestling's greatest babyfaces, the biggest draw of his era, and one of Hollywood's quickest emerging stars would climb the ladder one final time, etching his name in the tome of pro wrestling as arguably the best to ever do it on the biggest stage.

It had all of the makings to be one of the greatest moments in WWE history. Until it wasn't.

Cena's now-infamous heel turn at WWE Elimination Chamber earlier this year that laid the groundwork for one of the most panned WrestleMania main events in recent memory feels like a fever dream here in mid-November. A bold move with a potentially high ceiling, sure, but without any cohesion and fluidity, the much-craved bad boy John Cena run ultimately left a bitter taste in the mouths of wrestling fans around the world.

This was the guy you put on Wheaties boxes. This was the guy who had successfully fulfilled more Make-A-Wish wishes than any human on the planet. This was the guy who, after years of navigating split critical and fan responses alike, was finally appearing in front of a unified and supportive front.

It tarnished what should have been a celebratory moment in Las Vegas. It required a massive and perhaps even unearned course correction months later. To be blunt, it was a run that was undeserving of being attached to the biggest star of his era's legacy.

The time to celebrate Cena was now. So it's understandable that, as his time is nearly up, there was an unshakeable, underwhelming feeling surrounding this last stand, with only the last couple of months finally being dedicated to truly celebrating his impact on the industry.

That changed on Monday night, the night WWE redeemed John Cena's farewell tour.

Cena's Final Matches

There is a great irony in play here: even as Cena's creative failed him for the first half of 2025, he has managed to put on some of the strongest and boldest matches of his career.

While the structure of his bouts was greatly hampered by playing to generic tropes and the dreaded kick below the belt going into the midpoint of the summer, the decision to embrace Cena's inherent babyface qualities led to him being allowed to play with an entirely new toy chest.

The 48-year-old's ability to do what he does best and feed into the very real emotions of the fans who are invested in his character's ability to "Rise Above Hate ™️" opened up his arsenal and storytelling ability in these last few months, a much-needed development for his final set of matches.

Since turning babyface just ahead of SummerSlam, Cena has pushed his physical limits in a noticeable fashion, notching legitimate five-star caliber bouts with the likes of Cody Rhodes, AJ Styles, and Logan Paul. While not perfect in its execution (see Wrestlepalooza), there was a clear and effective attempt being made to salvage what was left of the Cena retirement tour, showering him with the adoration he has earned throughout his Hall of Fame career.

Cena's rise to prominence two decades ago resulted in one of the most polarizing top guy babyface presentations we've ever seen in wrestling. He was infallible, indestructible, at times one-dimensional, and unbreakable. "Super Cena" was a marketing device straight out of the children's section at Target, and it pained a vocal portion of the fanbase to see every match and every feud he was involved with end the same way.

At times, it represented the worst of its era. But all of these years later, that version of Cena is the very best of this one. That's why Monday night's Intercontinental Championship win over "Dirty" Dom Mysterio will go down as an all-timer.

Cena's Last Time In Boston

John Cena and Cody Rhodes embraced after the match. | WWE

If the pomp and circumstances leading to Cena's entrance at his final appearance in Boston weren't enough to tell you Monday Night Raw would produce a memorable moment, then perhaps it was the verbal sparring between two of WWE's top stars that would do the trick.

Cena and Mysterio could not be on more different trajectories: One ready to bow out of the business for good, the other on the cusp of blazing his own trail, family name be damned. They epitomize the easily digestible protagonist/antagonist nature every great story foundation requires, and both make you feel some sort of way, strongly.

On this night in Boston, they were the magic trick that would make 1+1=3, the perfect combination that was capable of delivering what seemed just a few months ago to be the improbable.

HE DID IT!!!!

JOHN CENA IS INTERCONTINENTAL CHAMPION! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/wx2m4bXYUg
— WWE (@WWE) November 11, 2025

It was the moment John Cena's retirement tour deserved.

Make no mistake, the people of Boston did as well. The city made a heavy bid to be the landing spot for Cena's final match, only to lose out to Washington, D.C. But I'm not sure there was a more perfect finale for these fans on this night in this city, the local faithful who have supported Cena from West Newbury to Beverly Hills.

Mysterio and Cena's match could have fit in seamlessly with any WWE house show main event from 2008, "Big Match John" jumped by the heel, grasping for a dream of life and fighting to topple the odds stacked against him.

There was the gaga. There was the hope. There was the comeback. And like every match that showcased Cena's brilliance in connecting with the hearts and souls of the fans he performed in front of for 20 years, he overcame evil and hoisted the one piece of gold that has evaded him his whole career.

It captured the very essence of what makes pro wrestling great, embracing emotion, feeling, and harnessing a moment that could only happen when all of the elements of space and time come together in harmony.

In fact, Boston may have gotten a prize better than what the fans of D.C. may receive in Cena's final outing. Pure elation, no notes of melancholy.

No more clamoring for heel turns, no more complaining about being a one-trick pony. On this night, that special night, one of Cena's last nights, everything just...made sense. In a year where WWE and TKO have been criticized for being devoid of heart and genuineness, Cena's Grand Slam-clinching win embodied those traits.

It was everything WrestleMania should have been. Finally, after months of inconsistency and with the finish line in sight, all was right in the world of WWE. With the thunderous pop of 15,000 fans, John Cena was back on top, just as he should have been from the start, with just weeks to go before he says farewell.

Goodbyes are never easy. But the time is now.

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