John Cena Says He Set Trend As First To Keep His Word When Retiring From WWE, Hopes AJ Styles Is The Second

Will AJ Styles remain retired from WWE?

John Cena hopes so.

During the red carpet ceremony at the 2026 WWE Hall of Fame, the host of WrestleMania 42 gave an interview, during which he addressed his WWE retirement.

“So, I’m one of those folks who will be the first wrestler to actually retire,” Cena said.

He then mentioned that he hopes AJ Styles follows suit.

“And I hope I set the trend and [AJ Styles is] the second,” he continued. “I think it’s very important that we respect our audience and when they invest in us to see us for the last time. I think that that has weight and importance.”

Cena would go on to explain how he and Styles’ paths to retirement weren’t exactly the same.

“AJ’s path was a little different than mine,” he said. “I know his son is also in the business. So as much as selfishly I want to say like, you’re retired, stay retired. If he has a chance to wrestle with his son, he should take it, and I think the audience would want to see that. But hopefully, he wouldn’t say that if he didn’t feel it was time to stop.”