John Cena’s WrestleMania 39 Loss Continues an Upsetting Losing Streak

John Cena lost to Austin Theory in the opening match of WrestleMania 39 on Saturday night. Theory nailed the 16-time world champion with a low blow while the referee was knocked out, then hit his A-Town Down finisher to retain the WWE United States Championship. Despite Cena’s impressive pedigree, the loss was actually part of a losing streak that spans nearly half a decade. Cena’s latest victory in a televised or pay-per-view singles match took place at the Greatest Royal Rumble event on April 27, 2018. Since then he’s 0-3, losing to The Fiend at WrestleMania 36, Roman Reigns at SummerSlam 2021 and Theory at SoFi Stadium on Saturday.

Cena has been on a part-time schedule for years due to his busy acting career, but has maintained he’ll continue to keep wrestling periodically as long as his body holds up. He talked about his thoughts on retirement in an interview with Chris Hardwick back in 2021. 

“To challenge myself as a 44-year-old to go back, there is an Intrinsic challenge there, a set of circumstances. That’s a good challenge in many ways. My body could tell me after this extended stay, ‘dude, you’re done’ or it could tell me, ‘You’re so far from done it’s crazy.’ That’s another interesting conversation with myself. If physically, I’m slower, I’ve said openly to everyone that I will keep doing this until I feel I’m offending the customer. I will continually go out there and do what I can to contribute and add,” Cena explained.

“I don’t want to go out there and be like, ‘Okay, just let him go out there and (do his thing).’ I’m not into that because I know what it’s like to pay for a ticket,” he added. “If I were to get that on this go-round, it’s a humbling and tough thing that I will have to hurdle. If I get the opposite and it’s like, ‘You’re quicker and can do some things better and define a new personality,’ then that’s a new conversation because I do not have much time left and if I want to give it like, ‘let’s really commit to this thing and really go all in,’ that’s an honest choice where other stuff will have to take a backseat.”

WWE WrestleMania 39 Night One Results

• WWE United States Championship: Austin Theory def. John Cena
• The Street Profits (Montez Ford & Angelo Dawkins) def. Braun Strowman & Ricochet, Alpha Academy (Chad Gable and Otis) and The Viking Raiders (Erik & Ivar)
• SmackDown Women’s Championship: Charlotte Flair vs. Rhea Ripley
• Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championships: The Usos vs. Kevin Owens & Sami Zayn
• Rey Mysterio vs. Dominik Mysterio
• Seth Rollins vs. Logan Paul
• Becky Lynch, Trish Stratus and Lita vs. Bayley, Dakota Kai and Iyo Sky