John Cena Announces His Retirement from Professional Wrestling after 2025 Season

John Cena is pictured at the premiere of "Bumblebee," Dec. 9, 2018, in Los Angeles. (AP)
John Cena is pictured at the premiere of "Bumblebee," Dec. 9, 2018, in Los Angeles. (AP)
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John Cena Announces His Retirement from Professional Wrestling after 2025 Season

John Cena is pictured at the premiere of "Bumblebee," Dec. 9, 2018, in Los Angeles. (AP)
John Cena is pictured at the premiere of "Bumblebee," Dec. 9, 2018, in Los Angeles. (AP)

John Cena announced Saturday night that he will retire from professional wrestling next year after two decades in the ring.

The wrestler-turned-actor delivered a heartfelt speech to a stadium of World Wrestling Entertainment fans in Toronto, who booed in disappointment as Cena said the 2025 season would be his last.

He promised a farewell tour with dozens of dates and an epic final fight, and he assured fans he would remain involved with the wrestling franchise that launched his career.

“Thank you so much for letting me play in the house that you built for so many years,” Cena told the crowd.

In a news conference after the event, Cena told reporters that he feels physically “at my end,” but that doesn't mean he needs to distance himself from the sport he loves.

Cena is a 16-time WWE champion who burst onto the scene in the early 2000s as the fan-favorite “Doctor of Thuganomics,” a rapper character decked in gold chains and a backwards hat who challenged his wrestling opponents to rap battles. He went on to portray other popular characters, both in the ring and on the big screen.

Cena played starring roles in the films “Blockers” and “The Suicide Squad.” He has made multiple appearances in the “Fast & Furious” franchise and appeared most recently in the comedy thriller “Argylle” and the box office hit “Barbie.”



Daniel Day-Lewis Ends Acting Retirement for a Movie Directed by His Son

Writer-director Rebecca Miller, right, and husband Daniel Day-Lewis attend a special screening of "She Came to Me" at Metrograph, Oct. 3, 2023, in New York. (AP)
Writer-director Rebecca Miller, right, and husband Daniel Day-Lewis attend a special screening of "She Came to Me" at Metrograph, Oct. 3, 2023, in New York. (AP)
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Daniel Day-Lewis Ends Acting Retirement for a Movie Directed by His Son

Writer-director Rebecca Miller, right, and husband Daniel Day-Lewis attend a special screening of "She Came to Me" at Metrograph, Oct. 3, 2023, in New York. (AP)
Writer-director Rebecca Miller, right, and husband Daniel Day-Lewis attend a special screening of "She Came to Me" at Metrograph, Oct. 3, 2023, in New York. (AP)

Daniel Day-Lewis is coming out of retirement, seven years after his last movie, for a film directed by his son Ronan Day-Lewis.

The project was announced Tuesday by Focus Features and Plan B, who are partnering on “Anemone.” The film, Ronan Day-Lewis’ directorial debut, will star his father along with Sean Bean and Samantha Morton. The film was co-written by the two Day-Lewises.

Earlier Tuesday, Daniel Day-Lewis and Bean were spotted driving a motorbike through Manchester, England, stoking intrigue about his impending return to acting. After making Paul Thomas Anderson’s 2017 film “Phantom Thread,” the 67-year-old had said he was quitting acting.

“All my life, I’ve mouthed off about how I should stop acting, and I don’t know why it was different this time, but the impulse to quit took root in me, and that became a compulsion,” he told W Magazine in 2017. “It was something I had to do.”

Since then, his appearances in public have been infrequent. In January, though, he made a surprise appearance at the National Board of Review Awards to present an award to Martin Scorsese, who directed him in “Gangs of New York” (2002) and “The Age of Innocence” (1993).

“Anemone,” currently in production, is described as exploring “the intricate relationships between fathers, sons and brothers, and the dynamics of familial bonds.”

Ronan Day-Lewis, 26, is a painter who has previously exhibited his works in New York. His first international solo exhibition debuts Tuesday in Hong Kong.

“We could not be more excited to partner with a brilliant visual artist in Ronan Day-Lewis on his first feature film alongside Daniel Day-Lewis as his creative collaborator,” said Peter Kujawski, chair of Focus Features. “They have written a truly exceptional script, and we look forward to bringing their shared vision to audiences alongside the team at Plan B.”