Planet Kayfabe: Everything Wrong With John Cena’s Farewell Tour and The Year 2025 In Review
Planet Kayfabe: Everything Wrong With Cena’s Farewell Tour and The Year In Review
By: Paul Mateus | @PlanetKayfabe
Dec. 2025
Hello everyone and thank you again for reading Planet Kayfabe. Usually, this is the time of year when I do a year-in-review of WWE and pro wrestling at large, but this year has been all about John Cena’s retirement tour. Everyone has opinions on it. I spoke a little about it throughout the year. Now that its over, here are my final thoughts and I’ll break them down into categories.
The Timeline:
I thought this was a small issue at the time, but now that Cena officially retired in the middle of December, I find it odd that John would retire now. The WWE calendar goes from Wrestlemania to Wrestlemania. Every year we have that fall let-down while WWE decides not to compete with Monday Night Football or any holidays and then come January, *bam* we’re back in business with the Royal Rumble and Wrestlemania season is on to both start the new year and to close the WWE year. John Cena just retired on TV during what is historically the coldest part of the year when they used to be more prone to air TV specials and Tribute To The Troops.
I think of it like if an NFL player said “this is my last year” and they literally retired when the calendar year was over even if their team was in the playoffs in January. This entire year was about John Cena. He wrestled all these big names. He even held the world title. You’re telling me now WWE during the period that is usually a culmination of the year’s storylines is not going to start from scratch this January to get some idea as to what they’re going to do going into this year’s Wrestlemania? Maybe it will be a good thing. If you’ve read any of my columns before, you know I’m tired of all this nostalgia stuff so it will be good for them to be forced into doing something new and play the hand they have…. Or they will just bring in Chris Jericho.
This isn’t the biggest issue with Cena’s retirement, but when it was over it did feel weird to me that he’s randomly retiring in December, the coldest month on the WWE calendar and now we are going into Wrestlemania season and the guy they built 2025 around isn’t going to be there.
The timing:
Timing is everything in entertainment. When John Cena first turned, I remember a lot of fans saying “why now?” and I feel that’s a valid question. I saw podcasters that I like, so I won’t bury them here by naming them, mock these fans saying things like “who cares that it didn’t happen when you wanted it to. It still happened.”
Well, it makes no sense now in 2025. I could tell you my best Sarah Palin joke right now and its not going to land the same way it would in 2008. The time to turn Cena, if there was one, should have been any year between 2011-2014. Doing it now was just a waste of time. Cena’s entire retirement tour should have been a simple celebration of his career with fans in every town getting the classic John Cena babyface experience.
It was widely rumored at the time and since confirmed by Cena himself that the turn was done just to create a moment. This is why Triple H isn’t getting much Booker of the Year consideration this year. Yeah, you got that moment, but a diciplined booker would take a step back and ask these questions: “does it make sense?” “Will this help business/ratings?” “What do we do after?” and they didn’t really have answers for those questions.
Even today WWE is wildly patting themselves on the back, calling it the biggest moment of the year and the rank it as the 2nd biggest turn ever after Hogan’s turn in 1996, which lead to the formation of the New World Order. Well, I know if you watched WWE Unreal they all see themselves as creative geniuses and think they’re all smart for having Cena turn and shocking people, but I hate to break it to you suits in Stamford, but any idiot can write a moment like that.
If you gave me a one PPV to book and you told me “we just need a shocking moment” then I could have been like “ok turn Cena”. If you gave me or any fan the same opportunity today, I could say “alright well, if you want to get people talking, put Paul Heyman in a Triple Threat match and have him win the world title before Bron Breakker.” Okay, its something and people would talk about it but would it work? No. Would it help anyone get over? No. It would just make a mockery of the belt and the showitself. But hey it would probably get a lot of hits on YouTube and it would trend on social media all night.
Big fucking deal.
My next great idea will have Brock Lesnar come out saying he identifies as a woman and will now start laying out the women’s division. People would talk about it so that means I’m a genius!
Winning the world title and other main event focus:
John Cena should have ran parralell with other major stories in WWE. They made him world champion, but it was unnecessary. He was even Intercontinental champion for a cup of coffee, but that was also unnecessary and much like his turn, it was just done to get a reason. Other than the people who were there, most fans have probably already forgotten that he won that belt.
Not only was this entire year a tribute to John Cena, he was so heavily woven into the top stories that now that he’s suddenly gone it feels like they are starting with a clean slate going into the Royal Rumble and Wrestlemania season, which could be a good thing but as of right now there is almost no buzz at all for the Rumble or Wrestlemania. Yes, the branding will carry it to a wild financial success, but in terms of fan interest, they have some work to do when they come back for the new year.
You may have liked Cena holding a belt again if you’re a big Cena fan, but the WWE chose to invest this entire year in nostalgia and there’s a good chance that next year they’re going to pay for it when you consider they’ve been calling Cena “the greatest of all time” and “the last real champion” (whatever the fuck that means) and now he’s gone. Also for my money the last “real” champion was probably Steve Austin. The business hung on his run being a success. By the time John Cena was a world champion the business was monopolized and even though ratings steadily fell along with the attendance when Cena was on top, it didn’t matter at all. What a dumb thing to say on TV though. “The last real champion”. Way to bury the current a future champions. What a stupid company this is.
The idea of a set date for Cena to retire and the tournament was a mistake:
I’m skipping ahead here, but if you’re reading this I’m sure you already know that eventually Gunther beats Cena clean in his last match. Today, Gunther gets big heat on Raw so you can watch that and think that it was the right move, but I still would have done things differently.
One, the idea of Cena having a set in stone date of retirement took away a lot of drama. Gunther didn’t retire Cena. He just beat him in what was going to be his last match anyway. What I would have done, even if they were committed to Cena retiring in the middle of December, is have Cena come out and get the fans excited. He references the turn and how he feels guilty. He references the great string of matches he’s been on and is having regrets about retiring. John then starts heavily hinting at having a change of heart and that he may want to extend this run to give fans a more proper send-off.
During this promo, have Gunther come out and say something like “no, we are not going into 2026 like its 2006 again. Your time is up. It’s my time now, blah blah blah”. Scratch the tournament and just book Gunther vs Cena. If Gunther wins, Cena is retired and if Cena wins he gets to retire on his own terms at a future date. In the end Gunther wins and Cena retires anyway and you have that added drama and heat to the match. Instead, it wasn’t just a low-stakes match it was a no-stakes match. If Cena won, he’s still gone is Gunther is still a top heel anyway and continues his run. It almost makes no difference.
The finish:
I’m flip flopping on this a little bit but not entirely. At first, after Gunther made Cena tap out my initial thought was: “finally some ballsy booking from Triple H” thinking that’s how you put him over. If you’re gonna do it, do it strong, do it clean, do it right and they did and Gunther gets massive heat on Raw. Great. However, fans complaining about the decision to have Cena tap is valid.
Regardless, I am in the camp that Cena should have lost. There is also much debate as if this “time-honored tradition” of the older legend putting over the current generation is a dated concept and I don’t think it is. If you book Cena vs Gunther, then Guther HAS to win. There is no question about it. If you want to do a feel-good ending with Cena going out with a win, then they should have booked his last match against Randy Orton instead, but they booked it against Gunther and if you do that there is no question that you should put over the younger talent.
However, I’ve turned a bit on the idea of Cena tapping out. While I don’t see “Never Give Up!” as gospel and I know its just a successful marketing phrase someone in Stamford came up with and printed on a shirt, even though it’s not an original phrase at all. It is a phrase I saw on a thousand motivational posters when I was in elementary school. It’s a phrase Sylvester Stallone used to promote 2006’s Rocky Balboa film (still pre-dates Cena’s usage of it). It’s not something that is uniquely and solely attributed to John Cena. However, Cena did wear a thousand different shirts with that phrase on it and it is a part of him.
The idea of Cena tapping out in his last match after preaching the message of “never give up” for so many years is pretty ridiculous. I know John can go on podcasts and try and explain it in some deep arty/fartsy pretentious way and reference all the films he wants, but the fact is it didn’t land and the people didn’t like it. It did not work. I know Cena and all these wrestlers now are so used to smelling their own ass that they think they are all super creative geniuses, but it didn’t work and you’re never getting that moment back and no matter how much you try to explain it, it doesn’t change that at a fundamental level, most fans find it ridiculous that he tapped out. Especially the ones who spend tens of thousands of dollars to watch his last match live.
It does seem like you can’t ever believe in anything in the world of WWE. Austin fought the man and then shook hands with him when things got hard. The Undertaker winning at Wrestlemania was a guaranteed crowd pleaser spot on the card and then he lost to Brock Lesnar in what was also a terrible match. Now the guy who told sick kids for almost 20 years to never give up and acted as an inspiration for always working hard and giving it everything you got and always fighting for the greater good… gave up.
If I could go back in time, I would have had Cena with lose by pinfall or pass out and not just pass out. Have him throw up the HLR 3 finger gesture after the ref drops his hand twice and then have Gunther go bezerk and get more aggressive with the hold, Cena goes limp and the ref calls the match. If Cena was going for a dramatic finish that shows him fighting with his last breath, that would have worked out better than him smiling to the camera and tapping.
Post finish:
Gunther would go on Raw to snarls and screams from the locker room, but why? What did he do wrong? This past week on Raw it was Michael Cole who said, “the man who beat John Cena and GLOATED about it it!” oh wow, what an asshole. He beat the guy you’ve been calling the “greatest ever” for at least 5 years now and he has the nerve to brag.
If I could again play fantasy booker, I would have done something to have Gunther be more heelish. Yes, instead of winning the match clean and then just exiting the ring so Cena could have a music video played for him, I would have had him do something. Kick some dirk on his body. Spit on him. Do something. Anything! Some show of disrespect. Instead, he just won a wrestling match fair and square and left the arena.
He could have held the hold longer until the ref threatened to reverse the finish or something but nope. Gunther was a good sport. He won and left Cena to take an awkward bow while people booed the shit out of Triple H. Of course, now we are supposed to hate him just because he’s taking glee in beating John Cena. Again, you can say its working regardless because he’s getting good heat on Raw, but I feel like they could have done more. Actually, I say “more” but by that I mean do something because he did nothing to get such a heel reaction other than winning a match fairly against a guy who was retiring anyway. This is where having John’s career on the line instead would have been great because you could do a clean finish and still give John his tribute and fans would still have a reason to be mad at Gunther.
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Other thoughts on 2025:
It’s been a dull year in wrestling. Yes in WWE but AEW has done nothing to win me back either this year. AEW feels like a company that blew their load 2 years into their existence and are now really struggling to either keep or find a new identity.
MJF recently returned and I really don’t give a shit. 4 years ago I was really into him, but damn what a one trick pony that clown is. He really lost his edge when he didn’t bet on himself after promoting that “bidding war of 2024” and became “Mr. AEW”. and its the same old shit. Worked shoots and insider references. Yawn. I also find it ridiculous that the guy isn’t even 30 yet and they have him working some schedule like he’s Brock Lesnar. Like he’s some late-career special attraction that has long gaps between apperances, very few matches and comes out to play the hits. Again he’s not even 30 yet and it feels like he has nowhere left to climb. It’s like he peaked way too early, never evolved and now instead of being some edgy dangerous promo he just comes off as safe, self-aware, more wins and nods to their smarky audience and there’s nowhere left to go other than to WWE but I’m not so sure he’d thrive in that environment either.
R-Truth becomes Ron Killings and then R-Truth again shortly later:
People mock this since it was such a quick turn around, but I’m not surprised. R-Truth went viral for tweeting that his contract wasn’t going to be renewed, which caused an uproar from fans and wrestlers on social media. The fans chanted “we want Truth” and he came back under his real name, Ron Killings, and acted more serious. Some fans seem intrigued, but at the same time, they did indeed want R-Truth not Ron Killings so in taking away his comedy, which he is incredible at, you’re taking away the main reason fans fell in love with him. So the Ron Killings thing didn’t stick and when Cena turned babyface, it was officially done with.
Mick Foley leaves WWE… Kinda and for at least 2 years:
Mick Foley, an outspoken and longtime liberal democrat is obviously no fan of Donald Trump and after the murder of Rob Reiner and his wife, Trump posted a public statement that was ridiculous to say the least. The President seemed to try to offer his condolences, but at the same time said Reiner had a serious case of Trump Derangement Syndrome but it was Trump himself who came off as deranged in this post. Rightfully, most people called out the post as vile and Mick was right there with them. Good for him, but he didn’t stop there.
Instead, he took this moment to virtue signal. He said that he cannot work for WWE as long as they have a relationship with Trump. Ah, so he’s putting his money where his mouth is. Good. Oh wait, then he says he’s just not going to make appearances for WWE and he’s not going to re-sign a new Legends Contract when his current one is up after the end of June.
Ah. So he’s going to stick it to them, not by asking for a release. Not by taking his legend contract and maybe donating it to the DNC (as if they need that pocket change), Nope. He’s just gonna not make any appearances, but still accept WWE’s money until June, when he said he will not sign a new deal until Trump is no longer president.
Many fans and Jim Cornette on his podcast are making it out to be like its some big stand and Mick is really sticking his neck out there for his ideals, but he’s really not. Legends contracts are almost nothing. Its a basic little income and a deal that allows WWE to use you when you’re available and make dolls and do little extra specials with you. He’s not giving up that much money. In fact, he’s not giving up any money. He’s just not going to make appearances, which he barely does anyway.
Also, given how politically minded Mick is and how much he follows this stuff, I find it nothing short of hillarious that after 6 years of Trump in office and ten years of him being a political figure mentioned and seen on the news EVERY SINGLE DAY, that it was Trump’s comments about Rob Reiner, that made Mick go “ya know, I don’t think in good conscience I can work for this company anymore” and again by “not work for them anymore” he really means he’s just gonna sit on his fat ass and gladly collect WWE’s money and cash their checks for seven more months and after Novemeber of 2028 he will be open to working with them again.
This is so stupid. Mick is coming off like some man of principle for standing up to the big bad WWE and put his money where his mouth is, but he’s not doing that at all. He just made a big dramatic, and emotional post like he’s prone to do at times and he’s still accepting WWE’s money for another 7 months but just said he won’t make any appearances. I keep seeing all these podcasters and dirtsheet websites saying things like “MICK LEAVES WWE,” nope. He didn’t. He’s just not renewing his deal in 7 months. And “MICK IS DONE WITH WWE FOREVER,” nope. He just said for as long as Trump is president which after Mick’s Legend’s deal runs out will only be for 2 years and change. He’ll be fine. He saved his money and much of his income today comes from all these non-WWE appearances he does. Him giving up the Legends deal money basically means that instead of having Dominos delivered to him 3 times a day, he might want to have his wife pick it up instead.
AEW Sweeps Sports Illustrated awards:
This is a non story that blew up within the wrestling community but I’m telling you as a sports fan and daily listener of sports talk radio, SI is completely irrelevant in 2025. I haven’t heard a talk show host bring them up in over 10 years and even still that host was like 50 years old at the time. SI themselves apparently don’t care about their wrestling awards because I didn’t see a single thing on their Twitter feed posting about it. Even when their Twitter feed talks about NFL games, they are dead posts with like 7 likes and 2 re-posts. Who cares what they think? No one. I listen to sports talk all the time and I can’t remember the last time I hear an SI column referenced on air and they have someone from the magazine on the show to talk about some story in the sports world.
Also, I’m clearly a WWE fan more than an AEW fan, so I ask you fellow WWE fans, would you seriously vote for Triple H as booker of the year this year? I wouldn’t. In fact, I’d just leave that part of the ballot blank with no vote. Some great matches and promos deserve recognition but I don’t think WWE or AEW as promotions deserve any awards or praise this year for their creative. It’s been a pretty flat year. Neither booker is doing anything spectacular and you could say “well what about other promotions?” Okay, well, you watch them. I have a life and its hard enough to just follow WWE. If CMLL, New Japan or TNA has had a year of some spectacular storytelling and star-making, then you let me know how they’ve been robbed of this prestigious award.
What to look forward to in 2026:
Earlier this year, after Wrestlemania, I said the boom period was waning if not over entirely with a heel Cena winning the WWE Championship. Some of you didn’t want to accept it, but I think by now you all accept that the boom is done. The excitement is gone and Triple H’s honeymoon period is over.
2026 could turn around, but I doubt it. I have a feeling its going to be like 2002 after the Attitude Era, where they try and find their footing before having an eventual reset into a new era. The problem is Triple H comes on TV every 6 months and declares that we are in a “new era” so it gets a bit confusing.
What not to expect? Ticket prices to go down. That’s not happening. Just so you younger fans know, a lack of demand is not going to make WWE prices fall. They know they have a hardcore base of marks that will spend thousands of dollars to meet The New Day for 5 seconds backstage. They don’t need the casual blue-collar fan’s $130 for a nosebleed ticket when they can easily make it up in these stupid “fan experience” packages and charge $90 for a shirt only sold at that venue.
It was ten years ago when former WWE Superfan Frank The Clown wrote an open letter to WWE expressing outrage over their prices and how he went from spending $900 for a front row ticket at Wrestlemania 29 to $2,500 front row at Wrestlemania 32. I feel like 2 grand wouldn’t even get me in the door at Wrestlemania now never mind a front row ticket. Its not changing, people and TKO is way more aggressive with their pricing than Vince was and while Vince did like milking marks dry he at least saw the value in families going to the events. TKO doesn’t care about your blue collar famlies of four. They want single marks, superfans and celebrities at their events. Look, the prices are ridiculous now and they’re still selling tickets. Someone is buying them even if you’ve been priced out. It isn’t going to change.
What do you do? You don’t have to buy it. I feel bad for the younger fans but I’m 37. I saw guys like Batista, Undertaker, Eddie Guererro, Chris Jericho and Edge for $40 in 2005. I don’t need to pay $300 to see Austin Theory vs Jey Uso. If you have kids, just explain to them that for the price of a the average ticket to SummerSlam, you could buy them a Nintendo Switch 2 and like 6 games to go with it instead and they’d probably accept that deal.
For those of you that still say “if you want the prices to fall, just don’t go” Yeah, that worked in a normal economy but WWE and all forms of live entertainment have this ecosystem based on hardcore fans with money to burn. They don’t care about family-friendly pricing and filling the arena even at a discount. The people at TKO would rather have half the arena empty and make money on fan access type packages and expensive merch sales than make less money just by giving away tickets at a bargain to fill an arena. I know it sucks and I’m in the same boat as most of you reading, but they aren’t gonna care about our measley $150 when there is some 45-year-old Comic Book Guy willing to spend $10,000 for a scribbled 8×10 and to be herded in like cattle to shake a wrestler’s hand for 2 seconds. Not to mention they brand and sponsor everything now. Casual fans and families tapped out of these prices a long time ago and TKO hasn’t missed them. That’s the harsh reality and if you think prices are bad now, just wait another year. It ain’t gonna get better.
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That’s all for this last edition of Planet Kayfabe of 2025. It’s been fun. Next year will make ten years of me having a column on NoDQ. Life is a lot different now than it was back then, so my output isn’t what it used to be, but I still like following wrestling and getting my thoughts out there.
This year I rejoined Twitter under my old handle @PlanetKayfabe so follow me there to see my immediate thoughts on shows.
Thanks again. Merry Christmas and all the best to you in the new year.