John Cena explains rejecting major Triple H idea ahead of WWE retirement

John Cena shared his side of the story of why he rejected one of Triple H's idea for his farewell tour. Cena is set to retire in less than two weeks on December 13 at Saturday Night's Main Event.

One of the initial plans for Cena at SNME was a tribute show, but The GOAT turned it down. He will have his final match at the event, while the rest of the card is set to showcase established WWE stars going up against some of the best young prospects in the company.

Speaking on Jimmy Kimmel Live, John Cena explained why he decided against holding a tribute show for him and went a different route. Cena wanted to give back to the industry, and one of the things he thought of was showcasing the future of the WWE.

"I actually suggested that instead of like a tribute and spending the whole show based around like, ‘Okay, this is the past.’ I wanted to have my final match, which I'll get my chunk of time, and then dedicate the rest of the show to the future," Cena said.

With less than two weeks before Saturday Night's Main Event, the only match on the card is John Cena's final one. He's set to face either Gunther or LA Knight, who will battle it out in the final of The Last Time Is Now Tournament this Friday on SmackDown.

---

What is John Cena's greatest match?

John Cena was never known for being a great technical wrestler and was even dubbed as someone who "can't wrestle" by fans. However, Cena has had some amazing matches in his legendary career, regardless of what his haters think about his in-ring skills.

Zack Heydorn of Sports Illustrated listed Cena's 10 greatest matches, which include some classics like vs. CM Punk at Money in the Bank 2011, vs. Edge at Unforgiven 2006 and vs. Cody Rhodes at SummerSlam 2025.

However, Heydorn named Cena's match against AJ Styles at the 2017 Royal Rumble as his greatest ever. The GOAT beat Styles that night to become a 16-time WWE World Champion, tying Ric Flair's record.