John Cena: I Believed The Firefly Funhouse Match Would Be The Last Of My WWE Career

John Cena says he thought WrestleMania 36 would’ve been his final WWE appearance.

At WrestleMania 36, less than a month into the pandemic, WWE presented “The Show Of Shows” in front of no fans for the first and only time. Taking place in the Performance Center, the circumstances helped them create cinematic matches, including the highly-regarded Firefly Funhouse, which deconstructed the entirety of John Cena’s career. Now, the 17-time world champion has discussed how he thought his clash with Bray Wyatt in 2020 was going to be his last match.

Speaking to the Metro, John Cena revealed he genuinely believed the Firefly Funhouse was going to mark the end of his career.

“Honestly, no kidding. I thought the Firefly Fun House was going to be the last match of my career. I really did think that the Firefly Fun House match was going to be the tail end, and that was kind of a meta journey for me through facing all of my demons, and then letting go.”

-John Cena

As Cena mentions, the funhouse match saw him go through the journey of his career, making it a fitting end should the curtain have fallen that night. As it happened, the star returned to our screens in 2021, coming back to WWE to face Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship. He wouldn’t officially retire until last year, falling at the hands of GUNTHER at Saturday Night’s Main Event in December 2025.

It’s worth noting that another WWE legend did end their career in a cinematic match at WrestleMania 36. To close night one, The Undertaker defeated AJ Styles in a Boneyard match, with this being his last appearance before “The Deadman” officially announced his retirement later that year.

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As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on John Cena as soon as we hear more.