Wrestling On FanNation

John Cena Reveals Plans To Win WWE Royal Rumble And Break World Title Record At WrestleMania

John Cena officially declares for the 2025 Royal Rumble and intends to make history by winning his 17th World Title at WrestleMania.
Rick Ucchino|
John Cena's retirement tour is off and running
John Cena's retirement tour is off and running | WWE

The John Cena retirement tour is officially underway.

The 16-time World Champion made his return to WWE on the Raw on Netflix premiere Monday night in Los Angeles.

Cena spoke to the crowd at the Intuit Dome and thanked them for all the memories. He spoke about his history in Los Angeles, dating back to his days of sleeping in his car while he was working at Gold's Gym.

MORE: Chaos Erupts On WWE Raw As Roman Reigns Defeats Solo Sikoa In Tribal Combat

He acknowledged the rumors surrounding his final opponent at WrestleMania, name dropping Cody Rhodes, Drew McIntyre, CM Punk, Logan Paul and others. He then spoke about the prospect of winning his record breaking 17th World Championship and told the crowd it would take a miracle for that to happen.

It's been 2246 days since Cena won his last match and his recent record was a major motivating factor in his decision to hang up his boots. John said his time was nearly up, but the Royal Rumble provided him his lottery ticket to make history and he's playing to win.

John Cena officially declared himself for the Men's Royal Rumble Match coming up on February 1 in Indianapolis, Indiana. If Cena were to win the annual over the top rope challenge, he would join Stone Cole Steve Austin as the only three-time winner of the event and go on to challenge the Champion of his choosing in Las Vegas.

It's been heavily rumored for the last few weeks that Cena is the front runner to challenge Cody Rhodes for the WWE Championship at WrestleMania 41 in Las Vegas. That would naturally make him a Royal Rumble favorite in the eyes of many, but WWE also announced last month that Cena would be competing in his final Elimination Chamber match on March 1.

Anything could be on the table. If last year's road to WrestleMania taught us anything, it's that nothing is set in stone this far out from the show.

The Latest On WWE, AEW & More

Triple H Reveals WrestleMania 41 Main Event 'Penciled In' But Plans Could Always Change

WWE Announces Additional Live Events For Raw, SmackDown & NXT On The Road To WrestleMania 41

Exclusive: The Multi-Talented Harley Cameron Is Primed For A Breakout Year In AEW

Why WWE Delayed The Women's Intercontinental Championship Final [Report]

Published | Modified
Rick Ucchino
RICK UCCHINO

Rick Ucchino is the Assistant Editor & Content Coordinator for The Takedown on SI. He also works full-time for 700WLW Radio in Cincinnati, Ohio as a local news and sports anchor, in addition to his time covering the Cincinnati Bengals for Sirius XM. Rick has been on the professional wrestling beat since 2019, having provided coverage for a number of outlets, including Fightful, SB Nation’s Cageside Seats and the Bleav Podcast Network. With an educational background in theater, creative writing and journalism, Rick focuses primarily on the storytelling aspect of pro wrestling, but he’s no stranger to the squared circle himself. He had the privilege of training with former WWE & WCW cruiserweight Jimmy Wang Yang for nearly two years and retired early due to back issues with a perfect 1-0 record in singles competition. Rick is a married father of two incredibly adorable children, who are budding pro wrestling fans themselves. Much to the chagrin of their mother. You can reach Rick at rwucchino@gmail.com

Home/WWE