TORONTO, CANADA – JULY 6: John Cena makes his way to the ring during Money in the Bank at Scotiabank … [+] Arena on July 6, 2024 in Toronto, Ontario. (Photo by WWE/Getty Images)
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Netflix’s WWE Raw on Monday night kicks off a new era for the WWE and begins the end of John Cena’s wrestling career.
Starting Monday, Netflix will be the exclusive home of World Wrestling Entertainment’s weekly pro wrestling competiton in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Latin America. Netflix noted that the debut of program—which is officially known as WWE Monday Night Raw—marks the first time the program will be streaming in its 31-year history.
According to The Associated Pressthe weekly streaming of WWE Raw is part of a 10-year, $5 billion agreement Netflix reached with the WWE in January 2024. Netflix will have an option in five years to extend the deal.
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Cena is among the wrestlers set to appear on Netflix’s debut of WWE Raw along with the likes of Cody Rhodes, Roman Reigns, CM Punk and Bianca Belair. WWE Monday Night Raw will begin streaming live on Netflix at 5 p.m. PT / 8 p.m. ET on Monday from the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles.
Per ESPNCena announced in July of 2024 that he would be retiring with a WWE farewell tour in 2025 and wrestle anywhere between 30 to 40 matches through the end of the year. Cena’s done wrestling part-time as he’s continued to work on his burgeoning acting career.
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA – APRIL 08: The Mix, John Cena, and R-Truth in action against the … [+] Judgment Day at the Wells Fargo Center on April 8, 2024 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by WWE/Getty Images)
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John Cena Says Goal Of His WWE Farewell Tour Is To Create Great Memories For Fans
In 2024 alone, Cena—whose acting credits include such films as Trainwreck, Bumblebee, The Suicide Squad and its spinoff streaming series Peacemaker—starred in the films For Argy, Ricky Stanicky, Jackpot! and Die Hart 2: Die Harter. In addition did a guest stint on the hit series The Bear in 2024.
During a Zoom conversation prior to the release of Jackpot! in August, Cena was brimming with excitement and anticipation—not sadness—about the beginning of his WWE swan song, which is officially dubbed “The Last Time is Now John Cena Farewell Tour.”
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“The goal of it is ‘happy’ and ‘fun.’ It is not sad,” Cena told me. “I’m sure there will be a lot of emotion involved. There’s always a lot of emotion involved every time I perform, but the goal is to bring folks together and have great memories to take away from it.”
John Cena’s WWE wrestling career, per Vulturebegan on June 27, 2022, with an impressive Thursday Night SmackDown match against Kurt Angle.
Sometime in between his “The Last Time is Now John Cena Farewell Tour” matches, Cena will return to his role as Christopher Smith—aka Peacemaker—for Peacemaker Season 2 of the DC comic book series on Max. An official release date has not yet been announced, but it is expected to debut sometime in 2025.
WWE Rawwhich will kick off “The Last Time is Now John Cena Farewell Tour,” will stream live on Netflix on Monday at 5 p.m. PT / 8 p.m. ET.
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