John Cena Says He Isn’t Retiring, But Will Only Wrestle Part-Time

After his loss at No Mercy to Roman Reigns, John Cena seemed to “say goodbye” to the crowd, staying in the ring for a while as the fans gave him an ovation, then waving to and saluting the crowd.

#ThankYouCena #WWENoMercy @JohnCena pic.twitter.com/cz0czguwFX

— WWE Universe (@WWEUniverse) September 25, 2017

On “Raw Talk” after No Mercy, Cena said that he is not retiring, but that he won’t be a full-time performer anymore and instead will “be like a weird Batman character. When they shine the light, I’ll come running.”

When Lawler asked if he’s “gone,” Cena said:

“No, I just think my world is different. I said this to a podcast with Edge and Christian, I said the same thing. Regardless of if I have outside opportunities or not, I’m 40 years old and I have 15 years of track experience here in the WWE. And not at a normal level, at an elite level. And I don’t know how much longer I can keep it up. If I had opportunities outside, great. If I didn’t, I think I gotta know when to say when at that point.

And I’m not done, but I don’t know if I can keep going at the pace I’ve been going. And I think that’s a major thing for me to try to consider. This is my family. This is my life. I eat, breathe and sleep WWE and I don’t think anyone, whether they like me or don’t, I don’t think anybody can argue that.

So I guess I’ll be like a weird Batman character. When they shine the light, I’ll come running.”

Cena was cast for the lead role in the Transformers spinoff movie, Bumblebee, so he’ll likely take some time off to do the voice work for that. He’s also apparently being “eyed” for the lead role in an upcoming Knight Rider movie and is doing voice work for an upcoming YouTube Red animated series, Dallas & Robo.