We now know when the time is up.
John Cena will have his final WWE match at Saturday Night’s Main Event on Dec. 13, NBC Sports announced on Wednesday, Aug. 20.
It was not announced where Cena’s final match will take place, but it is expected to take place in or around Boston, which is in the same state as his hometown of West Newbury, Massachusetts. His opponent is also yet to be determined.
The news of Cena’s final match came the same day as a major reshuffling happened in WWE events. The wrestling company announced its premium live events will begin airing on ESPN platforms in September, starting with Wrestlepalooza on Sept. 20. The partnership begins three months earlier than the initial start of 2026.
WWE’s premier live events have aired on Peacock and its final one will be Clash in Paris on Aug. 31. However, WWE and Peacock announced a multi-year deal where Saturday Night’s Main Event will move from NBC to Peacock. With the move to the streaming service, it would allow the show to possibly limit the number of commercials during the broadcast, as well as not being limited to a hard end time, an issue that resulted in Goldberg’s farewell speech being cut off.
John Cena farewell tour: How many appearances does he have left?
Cena is currently nearing the end of his WWE career as 2025 will be his final year in the ring. Before the year began, the future WWE Hall of Famer said he would make 36 appearances during the farewell tour. As of Aug. 20, he has made 25, so 11 remain in the final three-plus months of the record 17-time champion’s career.
Of those 11 appearances, nine are confirmed. His retirement match and his appearance at the newly unveiled Wrestlepalooza on Sept. 20 were announced the same day. Here are the dates left in John Cena’s WWE career:
- Aug. 22: SmackDown (Dublin, Ireland)
- Aug. 29: SmackDown (Lyon, France)
- Aug. 31: Clash in Paris (Paris, France) (vs. Logan Paul)
- Sept. 5: SmackDown (Chicago, Illinois)
- Sept. 15: Raw (Lowell, Massachusetts)
- Sept. 20: Wrestlepalooza (Indianapolis, Indiana)
- Oct. 11: WWE Crown Jewel: Perth (Perth, Australia)
- Nov. 29: Survivor Series (San Diego, California)
- Dec. 13: Retirement Match at Saturday’s Night Main Event (Location TBD)
