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John Cena says he’ll come out of retirement if Elon Musk gives up his trillion-dollar fortune

John Cena is done with wrestling, but says he’ll return to the ring if trillionaire Elon Musk gives up his wealth

On December 12, 2025, John Cena retired from wrestling. The WWE wrestler had announced his retirement the previous year, saying he wanted to focus on his family, health, and acting career. 

Cena is adamant that he’s done with wrestling, and says he’ll never break a promise he made to his fans. However, there’s one recent development that could change his mind. On June 12, 2026, Elon Musk became the world’s first trillionaire when his company SpaceX went public, raising his net worth to $1.11 trillion.

That’s a lot of money, and John Cena has a interesting idea for how Musk could use it.

“I’m going to put this in terms the room hopefully understands. I cannot speak in absolutes, because again, I don’t control that. But I think the only person that could convince me to come back, given the recent events, would be Mr. Elon Musk, and he’d have to give up a whole lot of his fortune to do so. So, until he does that, I think I’m going to stay retired,” John Cena revealed during a panel at Spacecon 2026.

Given that Cena has purposefully remained apolitical for his career to date, that's unlikely to be a commentary on Musk's infamous public behavior; perhaps more likely is that it's an oblique suggestion that it'd take a significant amount of money for Cena to return to the ring. But if anyone could afford it, it's the world's first trillionaire - if he really wanted it. 

Your move Elon.


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About Spacecon

SPACECON is America’s newest comic con created by PMX Events. Attendees will see celebrity guests from the likes of Star Wars, Star Trek, Guardians of the Galaxy and other intergalactic movies and TV shows. Con goers will discover an immersive show experience to get up-close and personal with their favorite celebrities, voice artists, and comic artists with hundreds of exhibitors and special attractions to exhilarate any fandom.

Dates

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Location

San Antonio, Texas
UA

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Joshua Lapin-Bertone

Joshua Lapin-Bertone: Joshua is a pop culture writer specializing in comic book media. His work has appeared on the official DC Comics website, the DC Universe subscription service, HBO Max promotional videos, the Batman Universe fansite, and more. In between traveling around the country to cover various comic conventions, Joshua resides in Florida where he binges superhero television and reads obscure comics from yesteryear.

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