John Cena’s Retirement Date Has Been Revealed

John Cena is currently having his final main event run in WWE. The Cenation Leader will retire later this year in December. There were reports of WWE trying to set up John Cena’s retirement match on December 27 to compete with AEW World’s End. This wasn’t a surprise to wrestling fans, considering WWE has been doing this a lot lately. On September 20, WWE’s Wrestlepalooza PLE will go head-to-head with AEW All Out.

However, in a new press release, WWE and Peacock made a surprising announcement. They’re ending their PLE deal early this year with Clash in Paris. After that, ESPN will air WWE PLEs on their streaming platform.

In the same announcement, Peacock also revealed that they’ve signed a deal with WWE that’ll make Saturday Night Main Event exclusive to them. John Cena was announced for the December 13th special, and they are advertising it as his final match.

John Cena’s Retirement Match Scheduled on Saturday Night Main Event

As part of this deal, WWE will produce four Saturday Night Main Event specials every year for Peacock. In the press release, NBCUniversal promoted the upcoming SNMEs on November 1 and December 13 and said this:

“Peacock will exclusively stream two nights of Saturday Night’s Main Events this year, with the first taking place on November 1. Additionally, Saturday Night’s Main Event on Dec. 13 will feature John Cena in his retirement match.”

Many fans criticized WWE for trying to use John Cena’s final match to counter-program AEW. While that’s no longer the case, fans are still upset that they’ll have to pay for a Peacock subscription to watch SNME.

Gunther Is Reportedly Going To Be His Final Opponent

WWE hasn’t announced John Cena’s retirement match final opponent yet. Even Cena doesn’t know that. He’s said that whoever WWE puts him up against, he’ll happily face.

“No, no. I’ve never operated like that. I’ve just always kind of been reliable, showing up, and doing whatever I’m asked. And I really want this tour to be, not only special — it’ll always be special for me because [the fans] are out there — I want it to be special for the business. My goal has always been to leave WWE better than I found it. So whoever they deem appropriate to get that energy, man, I’m cool with that.” (H/T Sports Illustrated)

Although a report suggests that Gunther might be Cena’s final opponent, the former World Heavyweight Champion recently retired Goldberg on Saturday Night Main Event in July 2025.