John Cena has offered a candid assessment of his WrestleMania 41 match against Cody Rhodes, admitting that the highly anticipated encounter fell short of expectations despite the significant attention surrounding his 2025 retirement tour.
During an interview with Uncrowned, the 17-time world champion reflected on the highs and lows of his final year as an active WWE Superstar, explaining how his experience at WrestleMania became an important lesson that he now shares with younger wrestlers.
Cena acknowledged that his match with Rhodes did not deliver the performance he had hoped for, describing it as a creative risk that ultimately failed. However, he emphasized the importance of learning from setbacks rather than allowing them to define an entire career or storyline.
“I think it’s a great template for when I talk to young talent — and I try to do this all the time, I remind them to swing big and don’t be afraid to fail. A lot of them think I’m talking from a glass house of like, ‘Yeah, sure, it must be easy for you, because you, you never fail.’ And then I’ll look back, especially on that last year because the retirement tour did have a lot of eyes, and I’ll say I took a big swing at WrestleMania and we stunk up the joint. We failed. But what did I do? I got back up, we dusted ourselves off, course-corrected the ship, and we culminated with a fantastic finishing of the story, as Cody would put it, at SummerSlam.”
Cena’s WrestleMania 41 encounter with Rhodes was one of the most heavily discussed matches of his farewell run, with the storyline and its execution generating considerable debate among wrestling fans.
Rather than distancing himself from the criticism, Cena explained that he views the experience as an example of why performers should be willing to take creative chances, even when the results do not meet expectations.
He also addressed the conclusion of his retirement run, defending the decision to pursue an unconventional ending rather than taking a safer creative approach.
“As far as the last match goes, gosh, there were a lot of easy routes we could have gone creatively and I appreciate the bold swing at the end. So, it’s authentically me. I didn’t leave anything in the tank physically. I gave it my all, got to work with a great opponent. I thought we had an ending that surely everybody talked about. Regardless of whether it was acclaimed or criticized, it sparked conversation and thought, which I think is really cool.”
Cena made it clear that he has no regrets about the physical effort he put into his final match, expressing appreciation for his opponent and the creative direction WWE chose for his farewell.
Although he acknowledged that the ending divided opinion, Cena believes the fact that it generated discussion was valuable in itself.
His comments highlight his willingness to recognize the shortcomings of his retirement tour while maintaining that taking risks, adapting to criticism, and delivering memorable moments remain essential parts of professional wrestling.
