John Cena made a surprise return at Saturday night’s WWE Money In The Bank 2024 pay-per-view event to announce his forthcoming retirement from pro wrestling in 2025.

During the post-show media scrum, WWE CCO Paul “Triple H” Levesque discussed Cena’s contributions to the wrestling industry and labeled him as “the greatest of all time.”

Triple H said, “John’s contributions to the business are second to none. A lot of people talk about legends and icons and so much speculation made about who would be on Mount Rushmore. I don’t care what metric you use, John is at the top of all of them. He’s had an unbelievable career that I’m incredibly proud to have seen it from the beginning. Seeing him as a representative of this company before he ever got hired and went to OVW. All the way to now, at a point where he’s calling his own shot on how he ends it. Most people don’t get to do that. Most people could do that, and choose not to, I don’t know why that is in our business. That’s the best way. For an athlete, for a professional, for an artist. Whatever you want to call and label what we do. To be able to call your shot in and out, to be able to walk out healthy, happy, and content, that, to me, is where it is.”

He continued, “I’m happy John is able to do that and it’s going to be an exciting 2025. I can’t wait to watch it unfold. It’s going to be an incredible year, and John continues to make a lot of memories and moments for people while they, in return, get to make those memories and moments for him. It’s always been a part of what John does, which is this connective tissue and back and forth with the audience. I’m excited for him to get to do that for another year and then call it a day on his terms. For me, personally, I want to say thank you to John for everything he’s done for WWE, the superstars here, and what he’s done for sports entertainment and pro wrestling in general. Against his will, he was being called The Greatest Of All Time. He truly is. I believe that.”