Looking Back at John Cena’s Retirement from Pro Wrestling

A fall as devastating as the cinematic end of Maximus Decimus Meridius, but a legacy that should endure for generations to come, John Cena’s farewell tour ended as though it was written by Shakespeare himself, but can we see past the tragedy of the loss of an icon and see what it all means in the end?

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With even WrestleMania 42 in our collective rearview mirrors, John Cena’s pro wrestling career is indeed a thing of the past, and seeing him get a tad choked up like that during his hosting duties made this past year a wee bit harder.

But still… Wasn’t it great to see the GOAT again?

Indeed it most certainly was, dear readers.

But we knew it was coming. We had been prepared for it for a year. But when it came, the fact that we all had a year to prepare for the inevitable end did absolutely nothing to cushion the blow at all. When John Cena tapped out in his final match against Gunther at WWE’s Saturday Night’s Main Event last December, you could hear a pin drop in Washington.

Image via Sportskeeda

WWE’s head of creative, Paul “Triple H” Levesque, made a decision and one that was not at all popular with the multitudes in attendance that night. This was clear. And although I am one of the many that was not at all happy about how John Cena lost his final match, I’ve got to say it was a tragic yet artistic end to one heck of a storybook career.

I guess all that’s left to do now is contribute a verse of thanks to one John Anthony Felix Cena, born in West Newbury Massachusetts. So I’ll go ahead and join the chant that resonated well into the night last December, as it had in so many locations over the last year up until that last moment of his in-ring career, and say: Thank you, Cena!

Image via WWNY

And I know it has been a long time since his retirement as of this writing, but what can I say? I was there as a loyal fan from the beginning of his career; there for the highs and lows; there for it all, and really, after that last match, I was reeling, and not just because of how it ended, but because  it actually did end.

I come from an era of heroes that kind of made you feel like they were indestructible. Men like Stallone, Norris, Schwarzenegger… And when you’re a kid, men like that have a way of becoming icons and yes, even gods in your young mind. As Jack Kerouac once said: “…and don’t you know that God is Pooh Bear?”

I’ll let you ponder on that one for a second or two…

Image via IMDB

But like so many of the counterparts from my generation, as we grew up and started to live through the highs and lows in our own lives, we saw that those heroes we looked up to weren’t as indestructible as we thought they were. Mortal men after all; very much like us all. But that sure as hell doesn’t mean they weren’t special. And John Cena was and is indeed special.

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The night of his final pro wrestling match, John Cena tapped out, so to speak, passing the torch to a younger talent in the industry he helped catapult to the stratosphere; he didn’t tap because he couldn’t win the fight. This is of course obvious to any true pro wrestling fan.

When you take away the illusion that pro wrestling undoubtedly is, a theater all its own, he “tapped out” because it was what he was told to do, and when he did that he looked strong as opposed to weak in my eyes; he looked at peace with what was about to happen, and he did it with the grace that hasn’t been seen in the industry in ages if you ask me. And at the end of the day, it is his happiness or rather satisfaction in that end that is enough for me and not our own. He deserves that type of loyalty after all he’s done to advance the business.

(For you dear readers that have been with me since the start of my writing career—especially the pro wrestling writing I have done—you know full well that in my humble opinion, the four men that did the most in advancing the business of pro wrestling and helping it reach the heights that it has are undoubtedly Bruno Sammartino, Hulk Hogan, Stone Cold Steve Austin and of course John Cena himself—my Mount Rushmore if you will.)

Image via Reddit

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Business is business. We wrestling fans have been shown this over and over again over the years, witnessing the rise and fall of many great athletes in the industry, as well as unspeakable moments in the rich history that is pro wrestling lore. So maybe we should have seen this coming. And perhaps we did; maybe it was one of those truths we try to hide deep down or rather at the back of our collective minds, hoping for those sunshine and flowery field dreams we secretly wish all endings would be, but yeah, that ending was all business and nothing but. Yet as stated, Cena made the most of it and he gave us the best possible goodbye he could manage, and in the end and despite the shock, it was perfect in its very own way. He made sure it was. He nailed his final moment on the mat perfectly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=de13m-cIeR0

So let’s give him his flowers and let “Super Cena” ride off into the proverbial sunset, and let’s watch John Cena the man, the artist, the actor, shine and show us what he can accomplish in his next venture… And what we can collectively do is support him as hard and as vigilantly, and most importantly, as loyally as we did during his wrestling career.

Image via Los Angeles Times

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But before I put this one to bed dear readers, there’s just one more thing I want to address, because as stated above, its hard watching your heroes ride off into the sunset; trust me I know. I’ve seen so many icons go or retire over the years. And I too have been that kid, sad as all hell at the prospect of not seeing a hero of mine do what he does best. (Actually I felt like a kid myself that night in December, but I digress.) So for all of you kids out there, John Cena, the man, never gave up. He would never give up. Never. That was and always will be his credo. He was merely passing the torch. All you parents out there, please explain that to the little ones if and when they bring up that fateful night again, as I’m sure they will. I’m sure John would appreciate it.

And truthfully, as a side note, knowing that deep down has cushioned the blow for me as well, and I’m a grown man in his forties. Go figure! Imagine what it would do for a brokenhearted little tyke.

Thanks, John. For everything.

Image via Instagram

All Rights Reserved © Domenic Marinelli

Domenic Marinelli is a writer, poet, playwright, and blogger, based out of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Some of his work has been published at Guilty Eats, Hot Cars, The Travel, CFL News Hub, Parc Extension News, Steel Notes Magazine, Slam Wrestling, Lombardi Ave, Last word On Sports (LWOS), and at so many other print and online publications. He is the author of Weathered Tracks, Where It Lay Hidden, Generic V, 13 Years of Lamentation, Ancient Credos in Sanskrit Moderna, An Open Letter To Arthur Pond, Summer of the Great White Wolf, Anger Cube, and so many others.

Check out his Linktree for his official website, socials, and other places where you can find his books: https://linktr.ee/AuthorDomenicMarinelli