John Cena gives major SNME update & possible spoiler for WWE Royal Rumble 2026

The 17-time World Champion will wrestle for the final time next Saturday.

The 17-time WWE World Champion, John Cena, is all set to wrestle for the final time in his retirement match at the December 13 edition of Saturday Night’s Main Event, which is set to emanate from the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.

Cena’s final opponent will be decide on the upcoming episode of SmackDown, where Gunther and LA Knight will battle in the final of the tournament, which was commenced to decide Cena’s final opponent.

Ahead of his retirement match next Saturday, Cena made an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live to promote his final match.

John Cena will ‘never’ wrestle again after December 13

During the conversation, the 17-time World Champion made it clear that, where most legends eventually return for “one more match,” after his retirement match, he is “absolutely 100% done.”

“This has really never been done in WWE history, WWE superstars don’t necessarily ‘retire’, they kind of hang on for one more match,” Cena said. “I am absolutely 100% done. The 13th of December on Peacock is my last in-ring performance… I will never wrestle again.”

Even though he’s retiring from in-ring action, Cena has previously mentioned that he hopes to stay connected to WWE in some way.

Cena also shared his thoughts on how he envisioned his retirement show would go during the conversation with Kimmel. He explained that he asked WWE not to center the entire show around a tribute to his career. Instead, he wanted to have his final match and then let the rest of the event spotlight WWE’s future talent

“So I actually suggested that, instead of a tribute and spending the whole show based around ‘Okay, this is the past,’ I wanted to have my final match, which I will get my chunk of time, and then generate the rest of the show to the future,

So if you turn into Saturday Night’s Main Event on Peacock on the 13th, you’ll see my final in-ring performance. But you’ll also…get a look at the major WWE superstars facing future stars, because the way I came into the business was a major star, a gold medalist who was like ‘Open challenge to anyone.’

And me, a no-name, came walking out there, and that was the start of this crazy ride. So 20 years later, I kind of want to return the favor. And you’re going to see some, technically, minor leaguers, step up to the plate and see if they can hang.”

After Kimmel jokingly asked if Cena would be leaving the show early, Cena clarified that he will actually close the show in the main event.

“Normally, I go to bed early, But for this one, I’ll probably be ending the show. So I’ll likely go on last.”

Possible rumor for WWE Royal Rumble 2026

According to a new report from WrestleVotes Radio on Fightful Select, Bron Breakker is currently planned to win the men’s Royal Rumble. This is despite his scheduled clash against CM Punk for the World Heavyweight title on the January 5 episode of Raw.

“Bron Breakker is your current white board favorite to win the Royal Rumble. Regardless of the announced match for the January 5 Monday Night Raw for the world title in Brooklyn vs. CM Punk, an idea has been strongly considered within creative circles that would see Breakker win the Royal Rumble on January 31 in Saudi Arabia … We can report that the current favorite, or the odds-on favorite as creative stands right now is for Bron Breakker to win the men’s Royal Rumble.”

[H/t: Wrestling Inc.]

The “whiteboard favorite” is a reference to the planning board shown in the Netflix series WWE Unreal, which mapped out the company’s creative plans. The 2026 Royal Rumble is set for January 31 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and will be the first time the legendary WWE event takes place outside North America.

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