John Cena’s Last Matches Announced: Will Tonight Be His Last Appearance on Friday Night SmackDown?

When discussing WWE, John Cena is certainly one of the greatest, if not the greatest. The GOAT transformed the landscape of WWE and took WWE to where it is right now on his back. The Never Seen 17 announced his retirement at the beginning of this year on the Netflix Premiere of Raw. He, however, made sure to go down fighting in his last year with WWE.

From being the runner-up at the 2025 Royal Rumble to winning the Elimination Chamber, from turning heel on Cody Rhodes and his fans to winning his 17th WWE title at WrestleMania, this retirement tour has been a hell of a ride till now. He defeated Randy Orton, CM Punk, Logan, and R-Truth in his retirement tour, losing only to Cody Rhodes, handing over his WWE Championship to him again.

23 matches vs. 23 years?

Sounds like @JohnCena’s got you beat, @LoganPaul 🤭 pic.twitter.com/UHxcVU528G
— WWE (@WWE) August 23, 2025

Will This Be John Cena’s Last Friday Night SmackDown?

John Cena has had a retirement tour filled with moments that he will always cherish. With only eight WWE appearances remaining, speculations are making rounds over the internet that this would be his last time featuring on the blue brand of WWE. What fueling these speculations is the location of tonight’s Friday Night SmackDown.

We’re not ready to say goodbye to @JohnCena yet 😭

All episodes of #WWEUnreal NOW PLAYING on @netflix pic.twitter.com/m3Uu0NF7XB
— WWE (@WWE) August 27, 2025

Tonight’s SmackDown will air from Chicago, a place where John Cena started his journey 23 years ago when he went against Kurt Angle. John Cena never looked back since then, and he would be willing to bid farewell to SmackDown from the place where it all started. It is already confirmed that this would be his last appearance as a WWE wrestler in Chicago.

THANK YOU, CENA!!! 👏👏👏@JohnCena pic.twitter.com/272sUUCJQw
— WWE (@WWE) August 9, 2025

John Cena to Hang Up His Boots After Saturday Night Main Event

If John Cena bids adieu to the WWE SmackDown brand tomorrow, this would be a heartbreaking moment for his fans. The date for his last Monday Night Raw has already been announced to be on November 17. He will play his retirement match on December 13, 2025, at Saturday Night’s Main Event.

As part of his farewell tour which comes to an end this December, John Cena will make his final appearances in Boston on Nov. 10 at @tdgarden and New York City at @TheGarden on Nov. 17!

MORE INFO ⤵️https://t.co/yzOxgtWTYi pic.twitter.com/tFhoAvleAB
— WWE (@WWE) September 5, 2025

John Cena will make his final appearance on Monday Night Raw on December 10, 2025, at TD Garden and on December 17, 2025, at Madison Square Garden. He will fight for the last time in the squared ring on Saturday Night Main Event before permanently calling curtains to his illustrious career.

Also Read: Clash in Paris: John Cena Defeats Logan Paul in a Hard Fought Match, Proves Why He is a Legend

Image Credit: WWE.com

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Ashish Negi

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I am Ashish Negi, and I work as a WWE and NFL writer at The Playoffs. I have 5 years of experience in content writing, and I have written in different domains like Real Estate, but I found my love while writing in sports. I love watching sports and have been a fan of WWE and cricket. I got an opportunity to write full-time on WWE and NFL here, so following the footstep of my hero John Cena, I turn heel on my last company