A lot of pro wrestling legends have either recently retired, or are expected to retire soon.
John Cena, Brock Lesnar, Chris Jericho, AJ Styles and Rey Mysterio, just to name a few, have either wrapped up their legendary career, or have plans to do so in the very near future.
During a recent interview with Mick Joest of Cinema Blend to promote his new film ‘Night Patrol,’ reigning WWE World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk spoke about the subject of retirement, confirming that it’s “coming sooner than later,” while also explaining why he feels John Cena had the “perfect retirement.”
Featured below are some of the highlights from the interview where he touches on these topics with his thoughts.
On how long he has left in his WWE career before he joins other legends from his era that have retired recently: “When I was 15, if you asked me if I’d be wrestling when I was 40, I would tell you ‘No, that’s crazy. 40 is so old.’ I’m 47, and I don’t feel old yet. Terry Funk wrestled for a long time, Ric Flair wrestled for a long time. I mean, there’s luchadors that are like in their 70s that are still doing it. Do I want to be doing that? Probably not. I would estimate probably the big 50 is when I should maybe gracefully bow out. Knock on wood, if nothing else horrible happens.”
On what he feels made John Cena’s WWE retirement match against Gunther at Saturday Night’s Main Event special: “A lot of the times you don’t get a choice. That’s why it was special to watch John retire. To me, it was a perfect retirement. We’re celebrating a guy who isn’t dead and can still walk. I tell people all the time none of us are getting out alive. He got out at the right time. He showed us a way to exit with dignity and grace, and I don’t know if mine will look that way. I don’t know what mine’s going to look like. I do know it’s coming sooner than later. I’m still having fun operating at a high level, no matter what anybody says, and until I can’t contribute, I still will.”
CM Punk is scheduled to defend his WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Finn Balor next week on WWE Raw in Belfast, Northern Ireland on Monday, January 19, 2026.
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