John Cena has wrestled less and less in recent years. A career in Hollywood has clearly become a priority for the leader of the Cenation, and like Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson before him, that's meant putting WWE on the back burner.
The 16-time WWE Champion has spoken candidly about wrestling fewer dates and has admitted in a new interview with Entertainment Tonight that he's getting ready to hang up his wrestling boots for good.
"That's not a maybe," he said of his planned retirement. "That time is gonna come and it's gonna come soon."
"I made a promise to the consumer early on, to WWE fans, 'cause I know how tough it is to be a fan," the WWE veteran, who made his debut in 2002, continued. "You gotta come out of pocket - and WWE has a ton of content - it takes a lot to be a passionate fan and our fanbase is passionate and global. I never wanted to go out there just for the sake of going out there."
"And I'm gonna be 47 this year. I feel great. So inside I feel great, but I know what it takes to be a WWE performer night in and night out and I don't ever wanna just go out there and do it to do it," Cena explained. "I wanna have the passion - the same passion as the fanbase - and I wanna give them exactly what they give me. The miles on the speedometer say, 'Hey, that's gotta be done before 50.'"
He'd go on to confirm that's "the timeline I've put on myself" before explaining how his Hollywood career has affected his ability to wrestle on a regular basis (it comes down to insurance and the fact Hollywood studios aren't willing to have their lead stars potentially injure themselves in a wrestling ring).
With CM Punk confirming he'll miss WrestleMania and Brock Lesnar unlikely to be on the card, will Cena be part of this year's Show of Shows?
"I don't know if I'll be free that weekend, but it is a weekend and movies don't shoot on the weekends," he teased. "But when I say I'm done - in WWE, they say never say never and a lot of people retire and come back - I'm just being honest with myself. There's such a great new generation now as well. It's time to pass the electric energy on to the folks that can be there every day."
It's a shame that Cena's time in WWE is going to end and that he'll likely never have another lengthy run where we see him on a weekly basis for several months. He's been on something of a losing streak lately (we last saw him being obliterated by Solo Sikoa) so here's hoping he picks up a win when we next see him!
How do you think Cena's WWE career should ultimate end?